You Are Not Alone
by CatieTheAwesome
Summary: Sam Tyler was just an ordinary guy with an ordinary job. But one day, the Doctor barges into his life and whisks him away to see the stars. But is it possible that Sam and the Doctor have already met? Or even...loved? If only this annoying drumming would go away... Doctor/Master. Shut up, they're adorable! R&R.
1. Dreams And Reality

**Okay, yes, this is another Doctor-Master story. F**k you, alright?**

**So this is set in an alternate universe (I guess) where instead of the Master hiding as Professor Yana at the end of the universe, he pops up in the 21st century as Sam Tyler. So, he's basically Rose. Except smarter. Because, you know...he's the Master.**

**The idea for the Master's alter ego name came from the British show, _Life On Mars_, starring none other than John Simm. In fact, people like to speculate that Sam Tyler is actually the fob-watched version of the Master, especially since "Sam Tyler" can be an anagram for**** "masterly". In this chapter, I also took other names from _Life On Mars_ characters, but this is not, I repeat, NOT, a crossover fic.**

**Anyway, I hope you like it. Enjoy! :D**

* * *

Sam Tyler had only gone down to the basement of Hunt's to turn in the day's income. He needed to get out of there quickly; he had a date scheduled with Annie tonight. He knocked impatiently on the door of Skelton's office, but there was no answer. Then, he heard a door slam.

_What?_ The blondish-brunette in the black hoodie raced to the double doors at the end and tugged hard at the handles. But the doors didn't budge. "Are you kidding me?" he muttered in annoyance, but with a touch of panic in his voice. Would he be locked in overnight?

It was then that Sam heard a loud creak from behind him. He whipped his head around, but saw no one. "Is that someone mucking about?" he called, trying to sound composed. If there was someone down there, he really didn't need to let them know he was scared.

He was met with creepy silence. Sam took a few tentative steps forward. "Who is it?" he demanded. Sam looked around, but still saw no one. It was just him and the plastic mannequins the store had down here in storage (Why did Hunt's need so many dummies anyway, he wondered.). Still…Sam had the eerie feeling that he was being watched.

Over his shoulder, Sam heard another loud creak. He turned around again.

A dummy, wearing dark jeans and a black pinstripe shirt, standing in the corner, had turned its head. Its blank, terra cotta eyes were boring into him.

The dummy then began _moving_, walking toward him. Sam gave a nervous chuckle. "'Kay. You got me, very funny."

But the dummy kept coming. "Right, I've got the joke," he said, a bit louder this time. He backed away from the walking plastic. "Whose idea was this?" he called as _more_ mannequins began slowly stalking him. "Is it Ray's? Is it? Ray, is this you?"

Sam tripped over a box. He picked himself up quickly. Now, most of the mannequins in the room were creeping toward him. _This here, this is the stuff of nightmares_, thought Sam, and felt his back press up against the concrete wall. _Oh no._

The mannequins stopped. The dummy directly in front of him raised his arm, about to strike. Sam gasped and squeezed his eyes shut.

Suddenly, he felt someone take his hand. Someone human. Sam's eyes popped open and looked up at the owner of the hand.

"Run!" said the man.

Sam didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

Sam and the mysterious man ran out of the basement, hand in hand, the plastic creatures hot on their heels. They made it onto the lift, and the man quickly pressed the "close door" button. One of the mannequins managed to get his arm through, and the man wrestled with it. The man pulled the arm off, disconnecting it from the rest of its body. The doors of the lift rolled shut.

Sam didn't quite know what to say after all that had transpired in the last five minutes. So he said what came to his mind first: "You pulled his arm off."

"Yep," replied the other man with a Manchester accent. He tossed it to Sam. "Plastic."

"Very clever, nice trick," said Sam, drudging up a weak laugh. His breath was still heavy from the sprint they'd made to escape the mannequins. His heart was racing. "Who were they, then? Students? Is this a student thing or what?"

"Why would it be students?" asked the other man.

"I don't know," said Sam, shrugging.

"Well, you said it. Why students?" the man persisted.

"'Cause…to get that many people dressed up and being silly, they've got to be students," Sam replied, trying to rationalize it all.

The man finally turned around, and Sam saw his face properly. He was tall, about six foot, and had broad shoulders and short dark hair, like a soldier or something. His clothes were dark: a black leather jacket, a maroon jumper, and dark jeans. His nose was beak shaped, and his ears were rather large. However, the man was nonetheless attractive; his eyes were a pleasant shade of blue, and when he turned around, he was grinning. "That makes sense," said the man. "Well done."

"Thanks."

"They're not students," said the man.

"Well, whoever they are, when Skelton finds them, he's gonna call the police," said Sam.

"Who's Skelton?" asked the man.

"Chief electrician."

"Skelton's dead," said the man, as the door to the lift opened. The man got off, and Sam followed. Who the hell was this guy?

"That's not funny, that's _cruel_, mate," Sam began to say, but the other man cut him off. "Hold on, mind your eyes." He reached into his pocket and whipped out a strange looking metal pen or something. At least Sam thought it was a pen, but then the man pushed a button on it and it emitted a bright blue light and a weird whirring noise. The man pointed it at the lift call button.

The pen (or whatever it was) caused the button put off a shower of sparks. Sam leapt back in surprise. With that, the man rushed away, with Sam staring after him in disbelief. "Who is it then?" he called, but the man ignored him. "Who's that lot down there? I said, who are they?!"

"They're made of plastic, living plastic creatures," said the man, when Sam followed after him. "They're being controlled by a relay device on the roof, which would be a big problem if I didn't have this-" The man stopped just long enough to flash Sam a strange looking apparatus making beeping and booping noises, then continued walking. Sam had to practically jog to keep up with the man; he had longer legs and therefore, a faster pace. "So, I'm going to go upstairs and blow it up. And I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me, no. You go on. Go on, have your lovely beans on toast." The man gently pushed Sam through the back door of the shop and out into the night air. "Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed," he added, and on that enigmatic note, he slammed the door shut, leaving Sam outside to ponder what the hell had just happened.

Then, to Sam's surprise, the door opened again. "I'm the Doctor, by the way, what's your name?" said the man.

"Sam. Sam Tyler."

"Nice to meet you, Sam." The Doctor shook the bomb cheerfully. "Run for your life!" And then he slammed the door shut again.

Sam, plastic arm still in hand, was utterly bewildered by the whole ordeal, but figured that if this eccentric man had advised him to run, he should probably run.

Roughly three minutes later, Hunt's Boutique exploded.

* * *

Later, after Sam arrived at his flat in the Powell Estates and eaten dinner, he changed into his pajamas and took a Tylenol. He couldn't take regular aspirin, he was allergic to it. For some reason, after all that had transpired that day, he had a migraine headache. Not the usual migraine however. More like a dull drumming in his head. _One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four._

That night, Sam dreamed of the Doctor.

* * *

It was an odd dream. Because the Doctor in his dream was not only the man he'd encountered today. He had other faces. The Doctor in Sam's dream was an older man with puffy grey hair, like it had been permed, and rather flamboyant clothes, sometimes even a cape.

And there were others, too: a curly haired, bug-eyed Bohemian in a wide-brimmed hat and an extremely long knit scarf; a young, blonde Edwardian in a cricketer's uniform, with a stalk of celery pinned to the lapel of his long beige jacket; a clownish looking fellow in a rainbow checkered coat; a dark eyed chap with a umbrella and a sweater vest donning red question marks; and a man with long, rich, curly hair, dressed in Victorian garb. And of course, the man with the leather jacket and the big ears was there too.

But this wasn't the strangest aspect of the dream. The strangest part was that all throughout the dream, Sam was pitted against the Doctor. Always trying to kill him, or imprison him, or hurt him in some way or another. Dream-Sam hated the Doctor with a passion, and made himself the Doctor's mortal enemy.

However, Sam also observed that his dream self had a certain fondness for the Doctor, which Dream-Sam hated to admit to himself. Like the Doctor was a brother. Or an old friend, perhaps. Yes, that was it. An old friend. A best friend, even. Or…or even…

Oh. The dream took an odd turn.

Sam's dream self had become a teenager, and so was the Doctor. They were lying on their backs in soft orange grass, gazing up at the sky. Holding hands.

Sam rolled over to look at the Doctor. The Doctor looked back at him and smiled adoringly. Sam moved his head to where their foreheads were pressed together, and the tips of their noses brushed. The young Doctor stroked Sam's hand with his thumb. It sent pleasant shivers down Sam's spine. "Koschei," the Doctor breathed, and Sam knew it was his name, his _real_ name. It made his hearts beat madly.

"Theta," he murmured back, lovingly, and gently pressed his lips to the other boy's. Theta kissed him back, releasing Sam's hand and cupping his cheek.

Sam woke up abruptly, sweating like mad. _What the bloody hell was that?!_


	2. Hello And Goodbye

The next day, Sam didn't have a job to go to. Hunt's had been destroyed. So much for his theory that the Doctor and the mannequins were a dream.

Speaking of dreams, what the hell had that been last night? My God, he barely encountered this bloke for five minutes, and then he had that utterly confusing dream about him. The mysterious Doctor (or whatever his name really was) and all his different faces. The strange meadow of rust colored grass. And Sam had imagined that he had not one, but _two_ hearts when he was…yeah. That last bit was the weirdest of all.

Sam was not gay. Never had been, never would be. He never ever had fancied men, not a single one. He'd never even had a dream about being gay, until now. Besides, he had a lovely girlfriend-

Annie! Oh God. Sam snatched up his mobile and checked it. Annie had called him ten times, and left eight frantic voicemails. He immediately punched in her number and hit SEND. She picked on the first ring.

"_Oh my God, Sam, you had me worried sick!_" exclaimed Annie. "_You completely missed out on our date last night, and then I saw on the news that your shop had blown up, and-and-oh, Sam!_" Sam heard sobs on the other end of the line and knew it was serious. Annie was not one to get all emotional. "_I was thinking that the worst had happened! Why didn't you call me?_"

"I'm sorry, love, I meant to, honest I did," said Sam, feeling terrible. "But I'd just walked out of the building, and it exploded! After all that, I just forgot. There was so much confusion. I'm so sorry, Annie, please forgive me."

Annie was trying to control her breathing. "_Oh, of course I forgive you. I was just so worried. I was scared you were...you were-!_"

"I know, I know," said Sam. "But I'm not. I'm still here. I'm alright. Really. Not even a scratch on me. I was quite lucky I got out of there when I did."

"_Yes. Thank God for that!_"

"Listen, why don't you-" Sam was about to offer that Annie come over and they could go out to brunch somewhere, but was distracted by the sound of something fiddling with his cat flap. _Thought I nailed that down_, thought Sam.

Sam went over to his front door to inspect it, and found that he had indeed nailed down the flap, but that something had pushed the nails back out. "_Hello? Sam?_"

"Sorry, Annie, look, I'll call you later. Weird stuff goin' on," said Sam.

"_Alright. Love you_," she said and hung up.

Sam bent down and picked up one of the fallen nails. "What the hell?" he muttered.

Suddenly, the cat flap fluttered again. Sam leapt back in surprise. _That is no cat_, he thought.

Sam cautiously bent back down and pushed the flap with two fingers. Once, briefly. Then, again, completely.

Through the small square, Sam saw two blue eyes staring at him.

Sam popped up in surprise. He flung the front door open to reveal the mysterious Doctor standing there, mirroring his own expression of bewilderment. "What are you doing here?" interrogated the Doctor.

"I live here," said Sam.

"Well, what did you do that for?"

"Because I do. I'm only home because someone blew up my job," Sam added pointedly.

The Doctor pulled the weird pen-thing out of his inner jacket pocket. "Must've gotten the wrong signal," he muttered, studying it. He suddenly wrapped his knuckles lightly on Sam's forehead. "You're not plastic, are you? No," he said, answering his own question. "Bonehead. Bye, then."

"Oi! _Bonehead_?!" Sam grabbed the sleeve of the Doctor's jacket and yanked him inside. "I think you owe me an explanation or two, mate."

"Watch the leather!" complained the Doctor, but didn't object to being pulled inside Sam's flat. "Hmm. Nice place you got here."

"Er…" Well, now that the Doctor was inside, Sam didn't quite know what to say. "Do you…want a coffee or something?" he asked, feeling stupid.

The Doctor looked at him in derision and said, "Yeah…sure. Just milk, thanks."

Sam quickly went to the kitchen to pour the mugs. _Okay,_ thought Sam. _You're gonna ask why those dummies came to life last night. No, first, you're gonna ask who the hell he is and why he's stalking you. And why you had a weird dream about him last night-no! You're not bringing that up! God, no!_

Meanwhile, in the living room, the Doctor was making himself comfortable. He spotted a magazine lying on the coffee table and flipped it open. "That won't last," he said, chuckling to himself as he scanned an article about some hot new celebrity couple. "He's gay and she's an alien."

He then picked up a paperbook and casually shuffled through its pages. "Hm, sad ending," he said, tossing it aside. He found Sam's driver's license and muttered to himself "Sam Tyler". Then, he spotted a mirror hanging on Sam's wall.

"Eh, could've been worse," he mused, getting closer to inspect his new form better. He didled his ear lobes and commented, "Look at the ears." The Doctor had regenerated over a month ago, but hadn't had much time for looking in mirrors and such. He'd been far too busy…well, keeping himself distracted.

Sam was still in the kitchen, so the Doctor picked up a deck of playing cards and attempted to shuffle them, but instead managed to scatter them all over the living room floor. "Maybe not," he sighed.

The Doctor was suddenly distracted by the sound of the cat flap rattling. "What's that then?" he called to Sam in the kitchen. "You got a cat?"

Sam was shaken from his stupor of thinking about the previous night's occurrings. "What? No," he replied.

With the coffee finally poured, Sam came into the living room, where the Doctor had plopped himself into an armchair and was messing around with the plastic arm, pretending that it was choking him. "Thought I threw that out," he said offhandedly, setting the mugs down on the coffee table. "Oi, what are all these cards doing all over the floor?" he said, bending over to pick them up.

"Anyway…look, mate, you never did tell me your name last night. Doctor what-was-it?" said Sam, but no reply came from the Doctor, just strange grunting noises. "Hello?-ah!"

The Doctor had managed to pry the arm from his throat. He threw the arm away, which simply continued to hang there in midair. Then, fingers outstretched, the arm turned around and attached itself to Sam's face.

The Doctor grabbed the arm by its…arm and attempted to detach it from Sam's face, managing to fall backward, breaking the coffee table, with Sam on top of him-

_The golden-haired boy fell onto the floor, accidentally pulling his smaller dark-haired friend with him. "Whoops!" said Theta, and the two boys laughed at their own silliness…until the sound died away, and the two boys were just staring into each other eyes, crystal blue versus mystic lavender._

"_Kos…" Theta said slowly._

_Koschei tried to calm the rapid beats of his hearts, and quickly stood, turning away so that the other would not see him blush-_

_Oh, brother!_ thought Sam, his cheeks burning red behind the plastic hand. He quickly pulled himself up and immediately fell back onto the futon. The Doctor finally yanked the arm off of Sam's face, then, after meddling with the buttons for an instant, jabbed the palm with his strange pen device.

The arm gave a final twitch of its fingers and went stiff. "It's alright, I stopped it. See?" he said, tossing the arm to Sam. "Armless," he joked, flashing him another toothy smile.

The two men stood, Sam still a little shaken by the attack. The Doctor picked up his spilled mug from the floor where the wooden shards of Sam's destroyed coffee table lay scattered like the playing cards. "Well, the coffee was lovely," he said, handing the mug to Sam. "But now I really must be off. Have a nice day."

And with that, the Doctor strode out the door.

Sam stood there in bewilderment, his living room all but destroyed. Then he remembered why he had invited the strange man in-answers. "Oi! Wait a second!"

Sam chased after the leather clad man, who was now descending the stairs outside. "Hold on a minute, you can't just go swanning off!"

"Yes I can. Here I am; this is me, swanning off. See ya!" The Doctor called cheekily over his shoulder.

"That arm was bloody _moving_!" exclaimed Sam. "It tried to kill me!"

"Ten out of ten for observation," muttered the Doctor sarcastically.

"But…but…you can't just walk away," argued Sam. "You've got to tell me what's going on."

"No, I don't."

The Doctor continued to walk away from the estates, but Sam was on hot on his heels. "Alright then," Sam threatened. "I'll go to the police. I'll tell everyone. You said if I did that, I'd get people killed. So, your choice, my _dear_ Doctor; tell me, or I'll-"

The Doctor whirled around. "What did you just say?"

"Er…I said 'tell me'?" said Sam confusedly.

"No, before that," said the Doctor.

"'Your choice'?"

"No, after that." The Doctor eyed Sam suspiciously. "You called me something."

Sam was puzzled. "Yeah. I called you 'Doctor'."

The Doctor stared into Sam's green eyes intensely, as if searching for something. Sam felt a bit awkward at the scrutiny. Finally, the Doctor shut his eyes and shook his head. "Nah. Forget it. Just thought you…never mind," he said, pacing away again.

Sam quickly followed suit. "Look, mate…who are you?"

"You just said it. The Doctor," he said.

"Yeah, but…Doctor who?" persisted Sam. "You got a surname, don't you?"

_Lungbarrow._

"No," said the Doctor. "Not anymore."

"So…you're just…the Doctor?" said Sam incredulously.

"Hello!" said the Doctor, waving.

"Is that supposed to sound impressive?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Sort of."

"Are you the police?" asked Sam.

"No, I was just passing through. I'm a long way from home," the Doctor added nonchalantly.

A sudden image appeared up in Sam's mind. A wondrous landscape of the red-orange grass from Sam's dream, the yellow-orange sky the backdrop for forests of silver trees and high mountains of violet and brown and red and gold. All amber hued and lit up by the sun, one of two, coming up over the horizon, setting the glorious red and orange and gold scene ablaze…

Sam shook his head slightly. What were all these strange notions? Ever since he'd met this eccentric Doctor, his head was filled with visions and feelings and memories that weren't his. His head was pounding with it all. _One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four._ "But how come those plastic things keep coming after me?

"Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you!" taunted the Doctor. "You were just an accident. You got in the way, that's all."

"It tried to kill me."

"It was after me, not you. Last night, in the shop, I was there, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you is 'cause you've met me."

"So what you're saying is that the entire world revolves around you."

"Sort of, yeah," the Doctor shot back.

Sam snorted. "You're full of it."

"Sort of, yeah," the Doctor repeated, grinning wiley.

Sam allowed himself a laugh. "But, all this plastic stuff," he said. "Who else knows about it?"

"No one," replied the Doctor.

"What, you're on your own?"

"Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly, while all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on."

"Okay…," said Sam slowly. "Start from the beginning. I mean, if we're going to go with the living plastic…and I don't even believe that…but if we do, how did you kill it?"

The Doctor, coming to terms with the fact that he just wasn't going shake Sam, slowed down a more leisurely pace. He took a breath and began to explain. "The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal. Dead."

"So it's radio control?" asked Sam.

"Thought control," corrected the Doctor. He noticed the look on Sam's face. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah." For some reason, Sam was surprisingly unfazed by any of this. It must have just been the initial shock fading away. "So, who's controlling it, then?"

"Long story," said the Doctor shortly.

"But what's it all for? I mean, shop window dummies, what's that about?" Sam lowered his voice and whispered dramatically, "Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?"

The Doctor and Sam actually burst into laughter at this. "No," chuckled the Doctor. "It's not a price war."

"Yeah?" said Sam, still chortling a bit himself. "Then what _are_ they doing here?"

"They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you," said the Doctor, not laughing anymore.

Sam stopped laughing too and looked at the Doctor in slight disbelief. "Do you believe me?" asked the Doctor, gauging his reaction.

"No," said Sam honestly.

"But you're still listening," the Doctor pointed out.

"Yeah…but really, though, Doctor…tell me. Who are you?" said Sam, all seriousness now.

The Doctor stopped short. He slowly turned around. There was a glimmer of wonder in his icy blue eyes.

"Do you know how they say-about the Earth revolving?" The Doctor took a few steps toward Sam. "It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still."

Sam stared at the strange, mystical man with a feeling of bewilderment and anticipation. The Doctor looked at him, the cloudy blue eyes piercing into his own green ones. "I can feel it," whispered the Doctor. "The turn of the Earth…The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and _I can feel it_. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go…"

Sam felt the Doctor suddenly drop his hand. He hadn't even realized he had been holding it.

"Er…sorry," said the Doctor, looking awkward.

_Theta and Koschei had snuck out after supper to watch the second sun set. It was one of their favorite things. The way the sun cast beams of light that shone through the silver leaves of the trees and set the violet-brown mountains on fire. The sky becoming darker red than the crimson grass underneath them._

_The two boys sat on the ground, watching the great golden sphere sink lower and lower in the sky. The evening breeze rustled their hair._

_Koschei closed his eyes and felt the gentle wind on his face, his cheeks, his eyelids. He could faintly smell the sweet essence of the baby blue flowers that grew wild out here in the meadow._

_The young boy was completely immersed in the moment, until he felt something brush his hand gently._

_Koschei's violet eyes opened suddenly and he looked down to see that Theta's hand had moved on top of his._

_Theta and Koschei stared at the joined hands for a moment, before Theta slowly moved his away. "Er…sorry," he said, looking away bashfully._

"Uh…it's alright," said Sam.

The breeze was blowing out here too, like in the vision (he was going mad). It was actually quite a beautiful day. The sun was shining, a bird was chirping in a large oak tree standing next to a blue telephone box. Children were laughing and shrieking in a playground nearby.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Yeah, well…_that's_ who I am. Now, forget me, Sam Tyler," he said firmly.

He took the dummy's arm from Sam and waved it at him sardonically. "Go home."

The Doctor turned and walked away.

Sam watched the mysterious man go. Then, he too slowly turned around and started back for his apartment. But he had only walked about twenty paces, when a noise stopped him.

It was a strange, mechanical wheezing, unlike anything Sam had ever heard before. He didn't know what it was, but it just seemed _so familiar_…

Sam swiftly turned around and raced back to the place where he and the Doctor had parted. He looked around frantically, but saw neither hide nor hair of the mysterious man.

He was gone.

**Sam stared a sidewalk where a few cars were parked. Wait…wasn't there a telephone booth standing there just a second ago?**


	3. Rubber And Flesh

**Wow, guys, thanks for all the love I've been getting on this story! I figured not a lot of people would like it since it's not 10/Rose or 11/Clara, but apparently I was wrong! Thanks to Mabudachi-trio, doctorXmaster, Alowl, and Timey-Wimey Somn-Like Lass for the reviews, and to everyone who followed or favorited.**

**I may not be able to update for a little while, because the school musical is this week, and I'm a lead role *cabbage patches*, but don't give up on me, okay? :)**

**By the way, I'm really sorry if this chapter is complete gibberish. I wrote it at like, 1 AM. (I'm going to be so screwed at school tomorrow. :-S Oh well.) I hope you guys like it anyway! Hugs!**

* * *

"Sam!" exclaimed Annie when she opened the door to her flat to find him standing there. She was a pretty woman, with shoulder length, reddish brown hair and dazzling hazel eyes. She pulled him into a tight embrace. "I'm just so glad you're okay," she said with a sigh of relief.

"Sorry I couldn't come over sooner," said Sam, giving her a quick kiss.

"Yeah, you said there was weird stuff going on. What sort of weird stuff?" asked Annie, leading him into her living room.

"Annie, I'm sure if I can explain it all," sighed Sam. "I really don't know about it myself."

"Well, just try to put it out of your mind," said Annie, smiling. "Listen. Why don't you give me fifteen minutes or so to get ready, and we'll go somewhere for lunch. Alright?"

"Sounds great. I could use something to eat." Sam hadn't had much to eat all day. He hadn't even had his morning coffee, thanks to the Doctor. _Hey…_ "Say, you mind if I use your computer?"

"Not at all," said Annie, heading into her bedroom.

"Thanks." _Why didn't I think of looking him up before?_ Sam immediately went to the Google homepage on Annie's PC and typed in "doctor". Of course, about 18 billion results came up, none of them having to do with _his_ Doctor.

Sam sighed and revised his search to "doctor living plastic", but all this succeeded in doing was bringing up websites for a bunch of plastic surgeons. _Dummy_, he thought to himself. What else was there? He had absolutely nothing to go on about this elusive Doctor, except for some very strange visions he'd been having lately. _Wonder if that makes me a skitzo or something_, mused Sam.

Wait. There was one thing. Sam recalled that when he and the Doctor had parted ways (the second time), he had disappeared, along with an old blue police public call box. Was it possible?

Sam shrugged. _What the hell?_ And he typed in "doctor blue box".

Immediately, Sam got a lead. The first result was for a website that was bannered "Doctor Who?" Sam instinctively clicked on the link.

The computer brought up a rather unprofessional looking website, that reiterated its name "Doctor Who?" and was adorned with a zoomed in picture of a man standing in a crowd. He had short dark hair, a leather jacket, and mistakable big ears.

It was him. _His_ Doctor.

Underneath, the photo was captioned: _Have you seen this man? Contact Clive._

"Sam? Are you ready?" Annie poked her head into the room, fresh clothes on and hair neatly combed.

"Yeah, sure…hey, Anne?"

"Yes?"

Sam looked at his girlfriend. "Do you mind if we make a little detour first?"

* * *

"Sam? What are we doing here?" asked Annie, staring at the small brick house they had pulled up to.

"Just need to ask this guy some questions," replied Sam.

"What about?"

"Er…it's about a job," Sam lied, and felt guilty about it. "I mean, with Hunt's blown to smithereens and all, I'm going to need some way to pay the bills. This guy owns a butcher shop; thought maybe I could…I dunno…chop meat or something."

"You don't know anything about being a butcher," Annie stated.

"Well, this could be an opportunity. Learn new things every day, that's what they say, right?"

"I guess so," said Annie, leaning back in her seat. "But do try and hurry, alright?"

"Course." Sam smiled and leaned over to kiss her. "Be right back."

Sam got out of the car and went up to the door of Clive's house. He knocked on the door and was greeted by a twelve or thirteen year old boy. "Hello," said Sam. "I've come to see Clive. Is he here?"

"Yeah, sure," said the boy. "Dad," he called into the house. "Some guy's here to see you!"

As the kid walked away, a portly, pleasant looking man, age of about forty five, came to the door. "Oh, hello," he said in a slight Welsh accent as he shook Sam's hand. "I'm Clive. And you are?"

"Er, Sam. Sam Tyler," he said. "I found your website online. You know…the one about…the Doctor?"

"Ah, yes! What about him?"

"Well, the thing is…" Sam rubbed the back of his neck. "I've seen him."

Clive's face suddenly went serious. "You've seen the Doctor?"

"Yeah."

Clive poked his head outside and looked around. "Come in, come in," he said, ushering Sam inside.

Clive shut the door behind him. "When did you see him? Tell me all about it. Oh, this way, please," he added, beginning to walk down the hallway.

Sam followed. "Well…did you hear on the news about Hunt's Boutique downtown? It exploded last night."

"Oh, yeah, I saw about that." Clive stopped short. "Wait…that was the Doctor?!"

"Yeah…he kind of blew it up."

"That's brilliant! ...Well, no, not brilliant, but I mean, brilliant that you saw the Doctor! Did he say anything to you?"

"Yeah, little bit."

"Like what? What did he say?" Clive sounded very excited as he led Sam into a small room with picture and bulletin boards posted all around.

"Well, he said…" Sam tried to think back to the previous night. "He said 'go on, have your lovely beans on toast'."

"Really? That's it?" Clive looked disappointed.

"Well, sorry, mate, but he said a lot of things. And to be honest, it was a very crazy night," said Sam. _In more ways than you know_.

"Oh well…anyway," continued Clive. He gestured around to the things in the room. "Here it is. All my research. A lot of this stuff's quite sensitive. I couldn't just send it to you. People might intercept it, if you know what I mean." He gave Sam a worried look. Sam managed to hold back a snort. _How paranoid can you be?_

"If you dig deep enough and keep a lively mind, this Doctor keeps cropping up all over the place," Clive went on. "Political diaries, conspiracy theories…even ghost stories." Clive pulled out a thick blue file folder and laid it out on the cluttered table in the middle of the room. "No first name, no last name. Just 'the Doctor'. Always 'the Doctor'." A far away look came to Clive's eye. "And the title seems to have been passed down from father to son. It appears to be an inheritance."

Images from Sam's dream flashed before his eyes again. The Doctor and all his faces. Was that who this man was? Just a man who had taken the name of others before him? Maybe he was a secret agent or something. Like James Bond. But his dream…they'd all felt like the same man, though…

Sam laughed at himself inwardly. A man who changes his appearance? Really. It was completely impossible.

"That's your Doctor there, isn't it?" asked Clive, shaking Sam from his reverie. He was pointing at a picture on a computer monitor.

"Yeah," said Sam, staring at the picture from the website, of the leather clad Doctor standing in a crowd, his arms crossed, staring at something intensely.

"I tracked it down to the Washington public archive just last year," said Clive. "The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original…" Clive dug a couple pieces of paper out of the blue folder and showed them to Sam. He pointed to the Doctor in the first photo, which was the same as the website, then flipped to a shot that was less zoomed in and showed more of the crowd around the Doctor, then showed him one more.

Sam could not believe his eyes.

The whole scene was a street in America; Dallas, Texas to be exact. The Doctor and his fellow bystanders were staring at a motorcade rolling along down the street; several police officers on motorcycles escorting a black convertible, carrying two people in its backseat. One was a pretty lady in a pink business suit and matching hat. And next to her was a gingery-blonde man in a black suit, with a friendly smile on his face. It was a face that Sam had only seen in history textbooks, but was easily recognizable.

Clive nodded at Sam's astonished reaction. "November 22, 1963. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy. See?"

Sam simply could not believe it. He stared hard at the man in the crowd. There was no way that the Doctor he'd met could be standing there, in that picture. The man he'd met wouldn't even have been _born_ in 1963. "It must be his father," Sam whispered. _Right?_

"Going further back," said Clive, going over to get another picture while Sam continued to stare at the picture in disbelief. "April, 1912. This is a photo of the Daniels family of Southampton," he said, sticking the new photo under Sam's nose and pointing to a tall man standing on the left. "And _friend_."

Again, it was undoubtedly the Doctor. "This was taken the day before they were due to sail off for the New World on the _Titanic_," said Clive, "and for some unknown reason, they cancelled the trip…and survived. And here we are." Clive reached for more one more piece of paper and handed it to Sam. This one was a sketch of a landscape, with a primitive looking hut in the background, and of course, an all too familiar looking man, with his hands in the pockets of his black leather jacket. "1883. Another Doctor. And look, the same lineage," he said, pointing out the uncanny similarities in the mystery men. "He's identical. This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra, on the very night that Krakatoa exploded."

"The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history," said Clive. "When disaster comes, he's there. He brings a storm in his wake. And he has one constant companion."

"Who's that?" Sam dared to ask.

Clive looked at Sam gravely. "Death."

The room was eerily silent. Sam felt goosebumps, as if someone with cold fingers had touched his spine. "If the Doctor's back…if you've seen him, Sam…then one thing's for certain. We're all in danger." Clive crossed the room and put his folder back in its place. "If he's singled you out, if the Doctor's makin' house calls…then God help you."

"But…_who is he_?" asked Sam, feeling a pit of dread form in his stomach. "Who do you think he is?"

"I think he's the same man," said Clive, the far off look in his eye from before returning. "I think he's immortal." Clive stared intensely into Sam's green eyes and whispered, "_I think he's an alien from another world_."

* * *

"He's a nutter! Off his head. Complete online conspiracy freak!" muttered Sam to himself on the way back to the car. "He's dotty, loony, balmy..."

"_Look up there, Kos!" said Theta, excitedly, pointing to the stars. "Aren't they beautiful?"_

"_Yeah," said Koschei, smiling endearingly at his Theta. There was nothing more he loved more than when Theta got all excited and began babbling about things. The way his eyes sparkled…_

"_Someday, Koschei, we're going to take our TARDIS and fly it straight out there! We're going to see everything the universe has to offer. Every planet, every sun and moon and comet and nebula there is. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"_

"_Yes," said Koschei, taking Theta's hand. "Did you know that you're beautiful, Theta? Your soul is beautiful."_

_Theta smiled and took Koschei's other hand. "Thank you, Koschei. I love you."_

"_I love you too."_

"_So…do you want to?"_

"_Want to what?"_

"_See the universe with me," asked Theta._

_Koschei laughed. "Of course I do. Who else would I see it with? Ushas? Or that prat Mortimus, perhaps?"_

_Theta laughed and kissed Koschei earnestly. Koschei kissed back and wrapped his arms around his love's torso. Soon they were rolling around on the ground, completely oblivious to anything but each other…_

Sam shook his head slightly. What was wrong with him?

He sighed as he climbed into the car and shut the door. "Well…that was disappointing," he said. "So, I'm starved. I fancy a pizza."

"Pizza."

"Or Chinese," said Sam, shrugging. "What do you think?"

"P-p-p-pizza," sputtered Annie.

Sam looked at his girlfriend. "Er…you alright? Your face is a little…flushed."

She slowly turned to look at him. "_Pizza_," she repeated.

Sam laughed. "Okay, I get it, I'm hungry too. Let's go," he said and put the key in the ignition.

* * *

"So, maybe I should I try the hospital," said Sam to Annie later, at the pizza place. He was staring at the menu, but not really reading it; he was too busy trying to think of place he could work, jobs he could do. He was certainly trying not to think of _that man_. "I mean, yeah, I can't be a…nurse or anything, obviously," he said, gliding over the D-word, "but I'm sure there's janitorial work or something. God. Janitorial work. Can you believe that's what I've sunk to?"

"So who's the Doctor?" said Annie.

Sam nearly fell out of his chair in shock. "Wha-?! How did you know about the Doctor?!"

"…I saw the website on my computer, of course," said Annie shortly. "Now, who is he? What do you know about him? Where did you meet him?"

"Er…last night. At the shop?"

"Oh, so it was _him_ that took all those innocent lives. Yes?" Annie grilled him.

"Innocent lives? Everyone else was gone, Anne. It was just me and him, and look, I'm fine, see?"

"Not the _humans_," said Annie, saying the word as some might say "maggot-eaten dead rat carcass". "The _Autons_."

"Autons? What are Autons? Wait, you mean the plastics? How do you know they're called Autons?"

"Never mind that, just tell me about this Doctor," said Annie dismissively. "It's okay, you can trust me, sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, babe, sugar." She grinned at him widely, her eyes bulging unnaturally. "You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor, and what's he's planning. I can help you, Sam. That's all I really want to do, sweetheart, babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart."

"Okay, what's going on?" said Sam. "You're acting _very_ strange."

"Your champagne," said the waiter, coming to the table and sticking the bottle under Annie's nose.

"We didn't order any champagne," said Annie, not even looking up. She grabbed Sam's hand and squeezed it. Hard. "_Where's the Doctor?_"

"Christ, Annie! You got a grip! That's not human!" said Sam, wrenching his hand and rubbing it.

"Here, soothe your hand with this cold champagne," said the bothersome waiter, now shoving the bottle in Sam's face.

"We're _fine_, mate, thanks," said Sam, waving the bottle away. "Annie, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I need to find out how much you know, so where is he?" demanded Annie.

"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?" asked the waiter, still standing at Sam's shoulder.

Annie rolled her eyes at looked at the waiter. "Look, we didn't order-" Then she stopped short. Sam looked up too.

The Doctor was standing there, staring at them, bald faced.

"Ah," said Annie, grinning wickedly. "Gotcha."

The Doctor shook up the bottle in his hand. "Don't mind me," he said. "I'm just toasting the happy couple." The Doctor aimed the bottle straight at Annie. "On the house!"

The cork popped off and flew straight at...no, _into_ Annie's forehead. Sam watched in horror as her skin absorbed the small projectile, and her whole face distorted like a fun house mirror. Annie merely chewed several times and spit the cork back out onto the table. It bounced off and rolled away.

"_What are you_?!" said Sam in shock.

Annie ignored him and stood up. Sam briefly saw her hand stretch out and form into a giant flat slab (a bit like a giant spatula) before the Doctor snatched him up and pulled him away just in time. Annie's hand came smashing down on the table and destroyed it.

(_Is that just a thing that happens around this guy?_ Sam couldn't help but wonder. _Tables getting mauled?_)

The diners screamed and fled the café as the Doctor grabbed Annie (or whatever she was) by the head. "You'll have to excuse me, miss," he said, and put her into a headlock, twisting and yanking at her skull, like he had done with the arm, until-_pop!_-Annie's head came loose in the Doctor's hands, while her body continued to stand there, completely independent.

The Doctor looked down at Annie's head, which glared up at him. "Don't think that's going to stop me," she threatened.

Annie's body lurched for the Doctor, blinding trying to whack him with her paddle hands. "Doctor, come on!" exclaimed Sam, grabbing his by the sleeve. The two men took off, Annie's cranium still tucked under the Doctor's arm.


	4. Big And Small

**Okay, here's chapter four! The school musical was a huge success, by the way. But I'm really glad it's over now.**

**The first episode "Rose" should be finished in the next chapter, or possibly (but not likely) the one after that. Sorry if the flashback is confusing in this one, it's supposed to be coming to Sam in bits and pieces. But guess what? It's Theta and Koschei's first kiss! :D**

**Thanks to Mabudachi-Trio and Timey-Wimey-Somn-Like-Lass for commenting, and everyone else who read. Lots o' love! 3**

* * *

The plastic body chased Sam and the Doctor through the kitchens of the restaurant. "Quick! Through here!" exclaimed the Doctor, grabbing Sam's hand and shoving him out the back door of the café.

"_Quick, Kos!" exclaimed Theta, as the two boys ran, hand in hand, through the corridors, trying to avoid the prefects patrolling the school at night. Theta suddenly pulled Koschei into a doorway. "Through here!"_

The Doctor sealed the metal door behind them with his…whatever it was. Sam could hear the creature banging loudly on the other side of the door. He knew it wouldn't hold the thing back for long.

Sam turned and ran to the other end of the back alley in which they had emerged and tried to open the gates, but they were padlocked and chained. "Open the gate!" he cried at the Doctor. "Use that…tube thing, come on!"

"Sonic screwdriver," said the Doctor, walking casually away from the door as he slipped said instrument back into his pocket.

"Well, whatever it's called, use it!"

"Nah," said the Doctor, heading over to where the blue telephone booth from before was parked. Sam had been so preoccupied with getting them the hell out of there that he hadn't even acknowledged it standing there. "Tell you what, let's go in here."

Sam watched in disbelief as the Doctor nonchalantly pulled an ordinary looking key out of his pocket and slipped it into the lock of the small blue box. It was about eight feet tall, and had all the dimensions of a stall in a gas station loo. The Doctor climbed inside and disappeared.

"We can't hide inside a small wooden box!" protested Sam as the banging on the door grew more prominent. Sam whirled around and stared in terror at the large significant dents that had appeared. A few more good whacks, and the door would be destroyed.

Sam struggled some more with the lock, but the doors would not budge. "It's coming, Doctor!" he cried frantically.

_Ugh!_ Sam let go of the chain in frustration and ran to the blue box, ran inside, and slammed the doors shut behind him. Then he turned around…and stared for a moment, awestruck.

And then he turned again and ran right back outside.

"_Thete, we'll get into trouble," whined Koschei, looking anxiously over his shoulder as Theta shut the door behind them. "What are we even doing here anyway?"_

"_To see this, Kos!" Theta flipped a large switch on and suddenly, the room was alit with pure white light. Koschei stared in wonder._

_Impossible!_ Sam stared the blue box in astonishment. It was about six feet in width, as were the rest of the sides, he noted as he inspected the rest of the box.

_Smash!_ Sam looked behind him to see that the plastic creature had finally broken through the door. Without another moment's hesitation, Sam ran back inside the blue box and secured the door.

_The room Theta had brought them to was an enormous green house. There were large, green, majestic plants growing in rows for as far as Koschei could see. "What is this place?" he breathed._

"It's going to follow us," said Sam, looking around the vast room in amazement. While the outside of the box was fairly diminutive, the interior was impossibly huge. The room was in a shape that Sam couldn't even find a name for; it had twenty walls with small round grates. The floor was a grate as well, with a huge hexagonal console in the middle, littered with hundreds of buttons and switches and wires and levers and God knows what all. Coming out of the center of the console was a long glass tube going straight to the ceiling of the room. The whole structure was supported by slightly distorted Y-shaped columns. And as if this one room wasn't enough, Sam saw stairs leading up to a higher level that promised _more_ rooms to be explored.

"The assembled hoards of Genghis Khan couldn't get through those doors, and believe me, they've tried," said the Doctor, fiddling with something on the control panel. He either hadn't noticed Sam's dumbfounded state, or was completely used to it. "You see," continued. "The arm was too simple. But a head's perfect. I can use it trace the signal back to the original source."

Sam watched silently as the Doctor plugged wires into the rubber head. It was slightly creepy. The brown hair, the hazel eyes, the plump pink lips…it looked uncannily like Annie. "Right," said the Doctor, leaving the head sitting on a glowing blue panel. He turned and faced Sam, waiting expectantly. "Where do you want to start?"

"Um…" Sam stuttered for a moment. The Doctor stood there patiently, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "The inside's bigger than the outside?"

"Yeah."

"Is it alien?"

"Yeah."

Sam stared at the Doctor and said cautiously, "Are you alien?"

"Yes…is that alright?"

"Yeah," Sam answered quickly.

The Doctor nodded slowly. "It's called the TARDIS. This thing," he said gesturing to the room in which they stood. "T-A-R-D-I-S. That's 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space'."

"_It's the nursery, Koschei," said Theta, taking his hand and grinning widely. "This is where they grow the TARDISes."_

"_They're…they're beautiful," whispered Koschei, drinking in the view._

"I don't…this is _unreal_," gasped Sam, sitting down on the grated floor.

"That's okay," said the Doctor, squatting down beside him. "Culture shock. Happens to the best of us."

"What about Annie?" asked Sam. "Is she…did they kill her?"

The Doctor blinked in surprise. "Oh. Didn't think of that."

Sam looked the Doctor, enraged. "She's my _girlfriend_! You pulled her head off!"

"Really? She's your girlfriend?" The Doctor looked surprised. "Weird. I would've thought…never mind."

_What is that supposed to mean? _"The copied her, or turned her into plastic or something, and you didn't even think? And now you're just going to let her melt?" shouted Sam.

"Melt?" The Doctor looked up at the console, where the rubber head had liquefying. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" yelled the Doctor, scrambling up from the floor and rushing to the other side of the console. He madly began to press some buttons.

"What are you doing?" exclaimed Sam.

"Following the signal. It's fading!" The Doctor jumped around, working the controls, while the TARDIS began making the strange wheezing noise from before, and began to shake. The glass tube in the center glowed bluish-green and filaments inside began pumping up and down.

The Doctor pulled down a lever and inspected the computer screen. "Wait a minute, I've got it!" Then, a second later… "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" He flipped a couple more switches. "Almost there, almost there!" He seemed to be shouting at the machine. "Here we go!"

The TARDIS stopped trembling. The Doctor rushed past Sam and ran out the door.

"You can't go out there, it's not safe!" Sam protested, thinking back to Annie's beheaded rubber body, dashing about with its mad spatula hands. The Doctor ignored him. Groaning to himself, he raced after him.

Sam found, surprisingly, that they had left the alley behind the café and had been teleported to the bridge over the Thames River, right next to the RAF memorial statue. The Doctor was pacing, looking irritated. "I lost the signal," he grumbled. "I got so close."

"We've moved," said Sam, scratching his head. "Does it fly?"

"Disappears there and reappears here, you wouldn't understand," said the Doctor curtly. He stared out disgustedly over the water.

"If we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose," Sam pointed out.

"It melted with the head. Are you going to witter on all night?" The Doctor walked past him and leaned against the side of the TARDIS.

Sam crossed his arms over his chest. The evening wind was cool, and-wait, evening? Sam looked around confusedly at the dark sky. He could have sworn it was only one o'clock in the afternoon. Two at the latest. How was it already dark?

Oh, confound it. So much had happened in the past twenty fours hours that he really didn't care anymore.

Annie. Sweet, smart, beautiful Annie. Had the worst really happened to her? "I'll have to tell her family," he said.

He looked at the Doctor. "Huh?" said the Doctor.

"_Annie_," said Sam angrily. "I'll have to tell her family she's dead. You just went and forgot her again, didn't you?!" Sam was so mad, he wanted to punch a wall. Or better yet, the Doctor. Who the hell was this guy, blowing up buildings, barging into his home, his private life, even his _dreams_.

But Sam didn't like violence. "You know what? You were right, you _are_ alien."

"Look, if I did forget some bird named Annie, it's because I'm trying to save the life of every _stupid ape_ blunderin' about on top of this planet, alright?!"

"'_Alright_?'" repeated Sam in sheer disbelief.

"Yes, it is!" shouted the Doctor.

After this last outburst, the two men continued to stand there, not speaking, not looking at each other, Sam smoldering and the Doctor indignant. Finally, after a few tense moments, Sam broke the silence. "So if you're an alien, how come you sound like you're from the north?"

The Doctor was slightly taken by surprise by this question. "Lots of plants have a north," he reasoned.

Sam noted that he said "lots of" planets had norths. Not "all".

Sam glanced up at the extraterrestrial blue box that had suddenly materialized into his life. "And this…'Police Public Call Box'. Aren't these kind of old fashioned?"

"Yeah," said the Doctor, finally grinning a little. "From the 1950's. It's a disguise," he added, patting the side of his ship fondly.

_Koschei stared at the unripe TARDISes, all in their beautiful, natural form. "Can we go inside one, Theta?" whispered Koschei._

"_Of course," said Theta, smiling warmly at his dear friend. Koschei loved Theta's smile. So warm. Like a fireplace on a cold night._

_Theta took Koschei's hand, and the two boys went inside the nearest TARDIS. Koschei couldn't believe his eyes. "It's…it's-"_

"_Bigger on the inside," finished Theta._

_The room was pristine white, with glowing round things on the walls. In the center was a huge console, covered in every button imaginable. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," said Koschei softly, as he tenderly fingered the console._

"_That's just what I said," said Theta._

"Okay," said Sam, slightly shaking his head. "And this…living plastic. What's it got against them?...I mean, us. The humans."

The Doctor didn't notice Sam's slip. "Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air-perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner." The Doctor mimed eating.

_What war?_ wondered Sam. "Any way of stopping it?"

The Doctor reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a vial of blue liquid. "Anti-plastic," he said, smiling smugly. "But first, I've got to find it." The Doctor began pacing again. "How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"

_London? Small?_ "Hide what?" asked Sam.

"The transmitter," said the Doctor. "The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."

"Well, what's it look like?"

"Like a transmitter," said the Doctor, as if Sam was dumb for even asking. "Round and massive! Somewhere slap-bang in the middle of London." He walked past Sam, the TARDIS, the statue, and paused next the railing on the other side. He turned to face Sam. "A huge metal circular structure. Like a dish, like a wheel. Radial. Close to where we're standing…must be completely invisible."

Sam stared behind the Doctor, who hadn't noticed the backdrop to his soliloquy. "What?" he asked. Sam nodded to the huge Ferris wheel behind him. The Doctor turned and looked, but did not see. "What?" he said again. Sam again gestured to the wheel. The Doctor, again, missed it. "What is it? What?"

_Really, mate? Are you that thick?_ Sam sighed.

The Doctor turned around once more, and finally saw what Sam meant-the London Eye. "Oh," he said slowly, then grinned at Sam.

"Fantastic!"

"_Promise me, Koschei," said Theta, grabbing his friend by the shoulders and whirling him around to face him. "Promise me that someday, you and I will fly this TARDIS together. Flying among the stars. Seeing the universe and all it has to offer. You and me."_

"_I promise, Theta," said Koschei, staring into his clear blue eyes._

_It was deadly quiet around them, in the solitude of the TARDIS. Koschei's heart rates had increased, and he could tell that Theta's had too. "Theta-" he began to whisper, but Theta cut him off with a kiss. The first of many that would come._

_Koschei was taken by surprise, but in no way protesting. He wrapped his arms around Theta's torso and hugged him closer to him. The taller Time Lord cupped Koschei's face in his hands and deepened the kiss, making Koschei gasp with delight. He had never kissed anyone, but he knew that never would such an embrace felt so right as theirs._

_Theta broke the kiss and smiled at Koschei, stroking his cheek with his thumb. "I guess that promise is sealed."_


	5. Come And Go

**Okay, guys! Really long chappie this time! This chapter winds up "Rose", and explains why the Master hates the Doctor so much. Sad stuff. Much feels. :.(**

**By the way, if you're confused by some of the flashbacks below (maybe you've never seen classic Who), it's the Third Doctor and the Delgado Master (the original). They're taken (and tweeked a bit, tee hee) from the season 8 serial "Terror Of The Autons". It seemed to fit, since the villains in both that story and in "Rose" are the Nestene and the Autons. Plus, it's the Master's first episode ever. :D**

**Also, I made up some Gallifreyan words. (They also appear in my "Running Through His Life" story.) Basically, "_taigon_" means student or young person, and "_goiya_" means teacher, professor, or wise person.**

**Thanks to Timey-Wimey-Somn-Like-Lass, Mabudachi-trio, and keepcalmandfangirlon (great name, BTW) for reviewing, and to everyone else who read. Enjoy!**

* * *

"_Thete? Did you really mean it? You and me?"_

"_Of course, Kos."_

"_Forever?"_

"_Yes. Forever."_

* * *

Sam and the Doctor tore down the street, through the hustle and bustle of downtown London. Sam always loved the city at night. The bright headlights, the people, mucking about, partying, drinking, laughing it up. And now, with the rush of adrenaline pulsing through his systems, he found the scene even more electrifying. He didn't even think twice when the Doctor took his hand. Why did it feel so natural, he would find himself wondering later.

"Think of it!" called the Doctor, slowing down as they approached the great Ferris wheel. "Plastic, all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop-window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables…"

"The nose jobs," added Sam.

"Still," said the Doctor. "We've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath."

Sam looked down over the parapet and spotted a large manhole at the bottom of the steps. "Like down here?" he called.

The Doctor rushed to his side and looked at the manhole. "Looks good to me," he said, flashing a grin at Sam. The Doctor took off again, followed closely by Sam, and the two men climbed down the manhole.

"The Nestene Consciousness," said the Doctor, as the two found themselves in a giant boiler room. He pointed. "That's it. Inside the vat. A living plastic creature."

The Consciousness was a huge blobby mass of boiling hot, burning orange goo. It lay bubbling inside the giant vat in the center of the room.

Suddenly, Sam heard a voice in his head. _I know you. Time Lord._

"What? What is it?" said the Doctor, suddenly noticing Sam's discomfort.

"That..that thing," said Sam shakily. "It just…said something. In my head."

"What did it say?"

"It said 'I know you, Time Lord'," said Sam, looking at the Doctor warily.

The Doctor paled immediately at this. He marched straight-backed down the stairs, to the landing above the factory.

* * *

_The TARDIS appeared in the lair of the Nestene Consciousness. A man in a blue-grey suit stepped out, and registered his surroundings._

_He was short. About five foot eight (Gallifrey used the Earth American system of measurement), and had dark eyes, cold and bitter, and dark hair, complete with a mustache and goatee-type beard._

_Two or three Autons marched out of the shadows, arms outstretched to grab the man. He calmly grabbed his TCE out of the inner pocket of his suit jacket and pointed it at them. They immediately backed off._

"_I have an appointment," said the dark little man, slipping the device back into his pocket. "If you would be so kind."_

_The Autons escorted him to the room where the Consciousness dwelled. "Your Excellency," said the dark man, bowing deeply to the gelatinous monster._

_He normally did not pay other beings with this form of respect, but as he required the Consciousness's help to destroy his worst enemy and the pathetic planet he now inhabited, he would have to force himself to behave._

"You are a Time Lord_," observed the Consciousness, transmitting telepathically._

"_Indeed," replied the dark man. "I humbly come to your Excellency's court with a proposition."_

"What is this proposition, visitor_?"_

_The dark man smiled. "You operate a very fine empire here. The Nestene Autons are feared throughout the cosmos. But I know of a planet where your kingdom could thrive tenfold. A planet rich in oil and toxins. A planet already with the means to mass produce your plastic creatures."_

"I would know of such a planet_," said the Consciousness._

"_Its inhabitants call it 'Earth'," said the man._

"Yes. I have heard tales of this 'Earth'_."_

"_With your permission, my liege," said the man, "I would like to transport several of your revered Autons in my TARDIS to this piddly little planet. There, I could conquer it and annihilate its primitive natives, and you and your creatures would take stock its abundant resources."_

_The Consciousness thought long and hard on this. "If I were to agree…how would you benefit from this?"_

_The man smiled wickedly. "Why, the destruction of my greatest enemy…the Doctor."_

* * *

Sam wiped beads of sweat from his forehead. The Consciousness was putting off massive amounts of heat and steam. "What's that? What's a 'Time Lord'?"

The Doctor didn't reply.

"So, what are you going to do?" Sam asked, realizing that his question would not be answered. "Just tip in your anti-plastic and hit the road?"

The Doctor glared at Sam. "I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance."

* * *

"_Good afternoon, Doctor." The man had snuck into the Doctor's lab and waited until the ridiculous human pets had gone to reveal himself. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."_

_He was quite let down by the Doctor-first, to be exiled from Gallifrey and have his TARDIS repossessed, so to speak, and then to resign himself to working for the human government. Really. It was so disappointing._

_The Doctor whirled around. The man allowed himself a moment to take in the Doctor's appearance. He was in his third incarnation now, and looked like an old man (The man took a little malicious glee in this; his body was younger and more fit). He had a fantastic grey bouffant, and his clothes were outrageous: a ruffled shirt underneath a flamboyant, navy blue velvet smoking jacket. The man felt himself being scrutinized as well. _

"_No, no, indeed not," said the Doctor. This body had a deep, soothing voice, which the man hated to admit was quite attractive. The Doctor eyed the TCE clutched in the man's hand. "You've come to kill me, of course."_

"_Not without considerable regret," admitted the man._

"_How very comforting," said the Doctor sardonically._

"_You see, Doctor," continued the man, dismissing the Doctor's tone, "you are my intellectual equal. I have so few worthy opponents. And when they've gone, I always miss them."_

"_Do you realize how utterly ridiculous you sound right now?" said the Doctor. "You've changed. I didn't realize how much I'd warped you. Please forgive me," he added, sounding almost sincere._

"_On the contrary," said the man. "I owe you my gratitude. You helped me to see my full potential. To grow beyond the foolish little boy you knew at the Academy."_

"_That 'foolish little boy' was beautiful," negated the Doctor, now looking a bit saddened. "I do wish he would come back."_

"_That shall never happen. That little boy died the day his so-called friend betrayed him. And _I_ took his place. How very ironic," said the man, smiling cruelly. "You were your own undoing, Doctor."_

* * *

"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract," announced the Doctor to the bubbling mass. "According to Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation."

The great blob bubbled and rumbled and hissed, but Sam could somehow understand it. It was allowing the Doctor to speak. "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?"

"Sam?" called a frightened voice.

Sam spotted a trembling mass sitting at the base of the stairs. "Oh my God," he said, racing to the scared woman. "Annie, you're safe! Oh, thank God," he said, hugging her to him.

"Sam," said Annie tearfully, cupping Sam's face. "_What the hell is going on?!_" she screamed and whispered at the same time.

"Annie, listen to me, I'll explain later. You just run up there, climb out of the manhole, and _get out of here_," he said.

"But-"

"Please, Annie. Just go! Get yourself home. _Please_," he pleaded.

Annie whimpered affirmatively and tore out of there.

Sam watched her go. "They kept her alive," he said to the Doctor after she'd gone.

"Yeah, that was always a possibility," said the Doctor, casually descending the steps. He seemed very uninterested in the whole matter. "Keep her alive to maintain the copy."

"You knew that and you never said?!" shouted Sam, anger rising.

"Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?" asked the Doctor, walking past him and down to the landing jutting out over the Nestene Consciousness. "Am I addressing the Conciousness?"

The bubbly mass let out a hiss. _Yes._

"Thank you," said the Doctor. "If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of war shunt technology. So, may I suggest with the greatest respect that you _shunt off_?" He gave the blobby creature a cheeky smile.

The Consciousness roared in indignation. "Oh, don't give me that," said the Doctor. "It's an invasion, plain and simple. I know you. We've met before, remember?"

* * *

"_How did you get in here?" inquired the Doctor._

"_Oh, don't be trivial, Doctor," said the man. "I see you've been working on the Nestene autojet," he said, nodding to the plastic yellow flower standing on the Doctor's worktable. "My own small contribution to their invasion plan."_

"_Vicious, complicated, and inefficient," snapped the Doctor. "Not at all the boy I remember. Not at all like Kosc-"_

"_You are _never_ to say that name to me again," hissed the man menacingly. "That name has no meaning anymore. There is only _me_."_

_The Doctor softened, visibly hurt. "Apologies," he whispered. "Tell me…how do you intend to activate these flowers?"_

"_Oh, by a radio impulse which the Nestenes will send. I will open the channel for them. We've distributed four hundred and fifty thousand of these daffodils. So when four hundred and fifty thousand people fall dead, the country will be disrupted."_

"_And in the confusion, the Nestenes will land their invasion force," concluded the Doctor._

"_Exactly," said the man, his eyes glittering with malice as he prepared to fire. "It's a shame that you can't be here to enjoy the destruction and chaos with me. Goodbye, Doctor."_

"_Please, wait," said the Doctor urgently. "Think before you fire that weapon. You don't really want to do this. I know what's truly in your hearts. I know, because it's in my hearts as well."_

"_Oh, do you?" said the man, glaring him with unbridled hate. "Well, if you know what is in my hearts, then you would know that I swore that I would kill you. And unlike you, _Theta_," he said, spitting the name out, as if it tasted sour, "_I_ never break a promise."_

_It was at that moment that poor, unsuspecting Jo Grant burst into the laboratory. She shrieked at the sight of the man._

_As he was distracted, the Doctor snatched something from the table and raised a warning hand. "Wait! Don't shoot."_

"_Doctor, you do disappoint me," scoffed the man. "We Time Lords are expected to face death with dignity."_

"_Oh no!" gasped Jo, staring wide-eyed at the Doctor in fear._

"_Don't worry," said the Doctor, his self-righteous, haughty look having returned. "He's not going to kill me."_

_The man chuckled at this. "That is your last mistake."_

"_If you fire that thing," the Doctor threatened, "you will never be able to leave this planet."_

"_You're bluffing on an empty hand, Doctor."_

"_I am not bluffing, and my hand, as you can see, is not empty." The man finally noticed that the Doctor did indeed have something clutched in his right hand. "If you kill me," said the Doctor, "you will destroy the dematerialization circuit from your own TARDIS." He held it up to prove that he was not faking. The man stared at it in desperation. "I recognize it, I feel sure."_

"_Where did you get that?" questioned the man. _I hate you_, he said telepathically._

I know_, answered the Doctor. "The circus."_

_The man swallowed. "You underestimate me, Doctor. Let me be quite plain: either you hand that unit over to me now…or I kill Miss Grant," he said, aiming the TCE at the young girl, who yelped softly._

No_, thought the Doctor._ You wouldn't. You're not that evil!

Oh, aren't I?_ the man shot back bitterly._ You wouldn't believe what having a person-a person who _supposedly_ cares about you-breaking your heart does to you. It is a horrific, cruel process, Doctor.

_The Doctor stared sadly at the man, his old friend, his old…What else could he do? The man was right. Koschei was dead._

"_Touché," whispered the Doctor dejectedly, as he reached his hand out to surrender the circuit._

"_Don't!" cried Jo, grabbing the Doctor's arm. "He's beaten already! They're going to bomb the quarry!"_

"_JO!" roared the Doctor, but it was too late. The man's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh," he said softly, a wicked sneer crossing his face. "There's been a slight change in plan, Doctor. I've decided to let you live…for a little while," he added, a triumphant chortle escaping his lips._

* * *

"Don't talk about constitutional rights!" exclaimed the Doctor, shaking Sam from his flashback. Who was this evil person? Sam thought back to his original dream. Was this the person who hated the Doctor? And how had he fallen so far from sweet little Koschei, the Academy boy?

The great blob below was hissing and sloshing about in its vat. "_I am talking!_" shouted the Doctor.

The blob immediately settled down. "This planet is just starting," said the Doctor. "These…_stupid_ little people," he said, gesturing to Sam.

"_Hey!_" exclaimed Sam indignantly.

"Sorry," said the Doctor, then continued. "-have only just learned how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf, please, just go."

"Doctor!" exclaimed Sam, but it was too late. Two sneaky Autons had grabbed the Doctor from behind and one of them was now pulling the vial out of the Doctor's jacket.

The Consciousness roared and bellowed angrily. _You came to destroy me! You lie!_

"That was just insurance!" cried the Doctor desperately. "I wasn't going to use it! I was not attacking you, I'm here to help! I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not!"

_Rapscallion_, hissed the Consciousness. _You will pay for this atrocity. You will pay with your life, and the life of your partner!_

"No!" The Doctor threw a desperate glance at Sam. "Please, he's innocent! He had nothing to do with this. He's just some kid who tagged along, I swear! You don't need to bother with him!"

The Consciousness roared some more at the Doctor. "What do you mean?!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly, a panel in the wall drew back and revealed the familiar blue box. "No. Oh, no. Honestly, no!" The Doctor struggled uselessly against the Autons. "Yes, that's my ship…That's not true. I should know, I was there! I fought in the war!"

_Destroyer of worlds! Deliverer of genocide!_

"It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!" cried the Doctor.

"What's it doing?!" exclaimed Sam.

"It's the TARDIS!" yelled the Doctor. "The Nestene's identified it as superior technology. It's terrified! It's going to the final phase…it's starting the invasion! Get out, Sam! Just leg it, now!"

_Annie_! thought Sam. She was running home right now. The streets wouldn't be safe! Sam whipped out his cell phone and punched in her number.

_Sam?! Please, you've got to tell me, what's going on? What's that thing down there? What's happening?_ cried Annie into her phone. It was clear that she was still hysterical.

"Annie, where are you?!" Sam exclaimed.

_I'm outside! I'm standing next to that manhole thing-_

"No, no, Annie, you've got to run! Just run home right now! Something bad is about to happen! You can't be outside right now! Please, sweetheart, just run!"

"What?" said Annie squeakily. "I can't hear you."

"_Go home!_" Sam yelled into his phone frustratedly. But the call was lost.

"The Nestene," said the Doctor. "It's started the activation signal. It's transmitting! Just get your girlfriend and get out of here!"

"What, and leave you here?!"

"Yes, and leave me here!" snapped the Doctor.

Sam watched in horror as the blob produced a huge bolt of energy and broadcast it to the ceiling, where it was surely being projected outside by the Eye. "It's the end of the world," he whispered.

Above, chaos. The plastic people were attacking left and right. Civilians were panicking in the street, dying by the number.

Below, disaster. The Doctor stared sadly at Sam as he struggled against the Autons' strong grip. _Another life I've ruined_, thought the Doctor desperately. _Another life to add to the trillions under my belt._

"Just leave me," said the Doctor sadly.

Sam stared the Doctor down. "I can't."

Without warning, Sam turned around and grabbed an axe, for in case of fire, from the wall and turned to look at a chain tacked to the wall. It was something he'd seen in a James Bond flick. It was a long shot, but…

Sam brought the axe down and chopped the rusty chain swiftly. He grasped in his hand, got a running start and…jumped.

Sam swung, Tarzan style, down to the landing where the Doctor and the Autons stood. His swinging feet knocked into one of them, putting it off balance. The Doctor was able to throw it off the ledge and into the steaming hot blobby mass below. The Consciousness roared at this.

In this same swing, Sam knocked the other one of the landing. It received the same fate its partner had gotten. The vial of anti-plastic was dropped, and the thick blue liquid spilled out onto the Consciousness. It yowled and hissed in pain.

"Sam!" yelled the Doctor, catching the other man as he swung back. The Doctor steadied him. "You alright?" he shouted.

"Bloody brilliant!" exclaimed Sam, grinning brightly.

The Doctor grinned back. The Consciousness continued to moan and wail and writhe. "Now we're in trouble," said the Doctor, chuckling as he watched the blob throw a fit. "Come on!"

The Doctor and Sam raced up the stairs. Around them, the structure was starting to crumble. "In here!" The two dashed inside the TARDIS. The Doctor fiddled with some knobs and pulled some levers on the console. "And away we go!"

The TARDIS began to dematerialize, and transported them away from the Consciousness and the Autons and the imploding room.

* * *

The blue box appeared in the parking lot in front of the Powell Estates. The door opened and Sam stepped out. "Man, what a rush!" he exclaimed, laughing.

The Doctor followed, smiling too. "Nestene Consciousness?" He snapped his fingers. "Easy."

Sam scoffed. "You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me!"

"Yes, I would," agreed the Doctor. He looked at his shoes. "Thank you," he added slowly.

There was a moment's silence. Then, finally, the Doctor looked up and spoke again. "Right then! I'll be off." He paused awkwardly. "Unless, uh…I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders. "You could come with me."

Sam stared at the Doctor. _What?_

"This box isn't just a London hopper, you know," said the Doctor. "It goes anywhere in the universe. Free of charge." He laughed a little. "What do you think?"

Sam opened his mouth, then closed it again, not sure what to say.

"You could fill your life with work and food and sleep. Or you could go…_anywhere_," said the Doctor.

Sam felt lost. "Is it always this dangerous?"

The Doctor nodded playfully. "Yep!"

"Er…I can't," said Sam. "I've got people and…things …I couldn't just…"

"Yeah," said the Doctor, nodding. "I get it." He forced himself to smile. "See you around then."

The Doctor went inside his magic blue box and shut the door. After a second or two, the TARDIS began to wheeze and groan as it faded out of existence.

Sam stared at the empty spot for a long time, feeling a pain in his chest. He felt as though someone had just offered him a winning lottery ticket and he had thrown it away.

_Déjà vu._

Sam sighed and turned to walk away, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. But only after five paces, he heard the noise again and turned around.

The Doctor stuck his head out of the door of the TARDIS. "By the way, did I mention…it also travels in time."

_Well that explains earlier_, mused Sam.

The Doctor shrugged and walked back inside, leaving the door open.

Sam stood there for a moment, staring at the crazy blue box. He slowly grinned and ran into it, closing the door behind him.

* * *

_Koschei was looking for Theta. "Ushas!" he called, seeing his classmate up ahead. He caught up with her. "Have you seen Theta Sigma?"_

_Ushas stared at him in disbelief. "You haven't heard?" she asked incredulously._

"_Heard what?"_

"_You know. About what your boyfriend did."_

_Koschei reddened. "He's not my boyfriend! ...Wait, what did he do?"_

"_You really don't know?" She raised an eyebrow. "Koschei…Theta Sigma stole a TARDIS and ran away."_

_Koschei stopped. His blood ran cold. "What?"_

_Ushas nodded. "Yep. If he ever comes back here…ooh, he's gonna get it!"_

_Koschei shook his head. He was feeling sick. "No. That can't be true."_

"_Sorry," shrugged Ushas. "It's what I know."_

"_NO!" shouted Koschei, quivering with anger. "You're lying! Thete wouldn't just…leave! He wouldn't leave…_me_." Koschei whispered this last word._

"Taigon_ Oakdown, what is all this commotion?" said the Earth Studies professor, _Goiya_ Clavin, coming up behind the upset Koschei._

"_Ushas says that-that Theta Sigma ran away," exclaimed Koschei._

_Clavin's face turned solemn. He bent down and touched the boy's shoulder. "_Taigon_…"_

"_No! I won't believe it!" exclaimed Koschei, blinking back tears. He knew that his shouting was attracting stares, but he didn't care._

"Taigon_ Koschei…I'm afraid it's the truth. _Taigon_ Lungbarrow is gone."_

_Koschei stared into the professor's eyes for the longest time. A dull, angry beat drummed in his head. He brushed off the professor's comforting hand and took off running._

"Taigon_!" cried Clavin, but Koschei didn't stop. He kept on running…until he'd found the room he was looking for._

_He threw open the door to the TARDIS greenhouse and looked around. There, right in front, a plant was standing, but its fruit was missing. The TARDIS that he and Theta had shared their first kiss in._

_Koschei's lavender eyes welled up with tears. Theta…his Theta had abandoned him._

_Koschei dropped to the ground, tears streaming down his face, howling, crying out for his Theta. _Theta, my Theta. Come back for me…

_After nearly an hour of Koschei's heartbroken sobs, the young boy picked himself up. He angrily wiped the tears from his cheeks. Koschei felt a pressure inside him. His broken hearts were fusing together, forming two cold, black stones._

"_You lied to me, Theta Sigma," whispered Koschei, embracing that hot, white, burning anger churning inside of his stomach. "You said it'd be you and me. You _promised_. And you lied."_

"_I'll find you," said the boy, his voice become harsher and deeper, more resembling that of the man he would be become: **the Master**. "I swear to God, I won't rest until I find you. And then, my dear Theta…I will kill you."_


	6. Dating And Dancing

**Happy Valentine's Day! My gift to you is...another chappie! :D**

**The title of this chapter really gives it away: the Doctor and Sam are gonna talk about sex.**

**If you're concerned, don't worry, there's no profanity or general vulgarity involved. Sam and the Doctor keep it clean. And the Doctor's mentioned "dance" partners aren't really canon, or even my OTPs at all. I just used some theories that have circulated in the fandom. To me, the Doctor's true love will always be the Master! Thoschei forever!**

**By the way, Sam's flashbacks might be more sparse from now on, but trust me, they'll still pop up here and there. Honestly, Sam's pretty dim for not figuring out by now that he's Koschei/the Master. But...he really doesn't want to accept the situation. He just thinks he's insane or something.**

**Thanks to Mabaduchi-trio, keepcalmandfangirlon, Jill (welcome, guest), and Somnone (I did notice that you changed your name) for reviewing, and everyone else who read. Enjoy!**

**P.S. I have a Five/Ainley oneshot coming out today as well, in honor of V Day! It's called "The Master's Valentine". Maybe you should check it out. ;)**

* * *

"Right then, Sam Tyler," said the Doctor, moments after the man had joined him in the TARDIS. "You tell me. Where do you want to go: backwards or forwards in time? It's your choice. What's it gonna be?"

Sam couldn't even imagine what to say. The Doctor was offering to show him the whole pantheon of time and space, and he just didn't know where to start. "Forwards," he finally answered.

The Doctor grinned and flipped a few switches on the console. "How far?" he asked.

Sam shrugged. "A hundred years?"

The Doctor, in response, hit a few more controls. The TARDIS began to tremor as it dematerialized. Then, it stopped abruptly, and the Doctor pointed to the double doors. "There you go. Step outside those doors, it's the twenty second century."

Sam stared disbelievingly at the doors. "You're kidding me."

"That's a bit boring though," said the Doctor. "Do you want to go a bit further?"

Sam grinned. "Fine by me, mate!"

Another series of tremors, and they had arrived in a new location. "_Ten thousand years_ in the future," said the Doctor. "Step outside, it's the year 12,005. The new Roman empire."

Sam snorted. "You think you're so impressive."

The Doctor's face fell a bit. "I am so impressive!" he insisted.

"_You think you're so impressive!" laughed Koschei as Theta brandished his new invention._

"_I am so impressive," replied Theta smugly. "This sonic…thingamabob-"_

"'_Thingamabob'?" chuckled Koschei. "Is that a technical term?"_

"_Well, I haven't exactly named it yet," admitted Theta. "But it's impressive, right?"_

"_Not very impressive for a weapon."  
_

_Theta looked shocked. "It's not a weapon, Kos! It's a tool! You know I despise weapons."_

_Koschei rolled his eyes. "Sometimes weapons are a necessary evil."_

"_Not if I can help it," said Theta flatly. "Anyway, you see, the sonic device works by emitting high pitched frequencies that manipulate molecular-mmph!" _

_Theta's technobabble was cut off by a kiss from Koschei. "Sorry," he said, smirking. "But you know how your technical jargon…excites me."_

"_Really?" said Theta, hiding a sly smile. "I hadn't noticed."_

"_Oh, do shut up," said Koschei, pulling him in for another._

Sam rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Mister Spaceman."

"Right, then. You asked for it." The Doctor began going to town on his console. "I know exactly where to go. Hold on!"

The TARDIS trembled and shook as it flew through the Time Vortex. Sam had to grab onto the console to avoid falling. The Doctor grinned, waggling his eyebrows mischievously at Sam.

Then, the shaking stopped.

Sam stood. "Where are we?"

The Doctor made for the doors. "Why don't we find out?"

Sam began to follow the Doctor, but stopped all of a sudden, and started rubbing his temples.

"Something wrong?" asked the Doctor.

"Just…a headache." The dull, aching beat from the night before had returned. It felt like someone tapping sharply at the sides of his head. _One-two-three-four. One-two-three-four._

"I'm fine," Sam said. "Really."

The Doctor wasn't so sure. See, he hadn't picked Sam up just because he was lonely (okay, maybe a little because he was lonely). The encounter with the Nestene had made him very suspicious. Sam seemed to have some level of telepathic ability. Perhaps one even more elevated than the Doctor's. How else, then, had Sam heard the Nestene Consciousness's thought when he hadn't? The only other way was if the Nestene had purposely projected to Sam. If that was so, the Nestene had made a mistake. He'd been addressing a Time Lord, and the only one in the room was the Doctor. But telepaths very rarely made mistakes of that nature. Whoever Sam Tyler was, he certainly had a powerful mind.

"Okay," said the Doctor suddenly, smiling uncharacteristically friendlily at Sam. "Let's go." He turned sharply on his heel and was about to place his hand on the door handle, but Sam said suddenly, "Doctor."

"Yes?" said the Doctor, turning around again.

"Listen…there's something I have to tell you," said Sam, looking a bit uncomfortable as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.

The Doctor silently waited for Sam to spill.

"I'm…straight."

It took the Doctor a moment to react. "What?"

"Yeah, I mean, you're a good looking bloke and all, but I…I don't swing that way," Sam said, shrugging his shoulders.

The Doctor still did not follow. "Er…what do you mean?"

Sam sighed and said gently, "So if you've invited me onto your ship because you think you and me-"

"Oh! Oh, no, no!" said the Doctor quickly, finally understanding. "No, absolutely not!"

"No?" said Sam, looking a little relieved.

"Trust me, I'm really not looking for that kind of relationship," assured the Doctor.

"Good," said Sam, taking his hands out of his pockets and dropping his arms, relaxed. "'Cause I have a girlfriend, you know. And like I said-"

"You don't swing that way, got it," said the Doctor, in a hurry to check out the new frontier he landed them in (and in a hurry to get away from this awkward subject). "Now, can we please go?"

"Yeah, sure, of course," said Sam distractedly. "Er, Doctor?"

"_What?!_" the Doctor groaned, whirling around.

"Do you…swing that way?" Sam immediately looked at his shoes.

The Doctor was taken by surprise with this question. "Well, I…I mean…" He sighed. "Listen, Sam. I've made a lot of friends over the years. I'm not as young as I look. And yes, some of them…I do…dance with."

"'Dance'?" repeated Sam.

"Yes, _dance_," said the Doctor, the tips of his colossal ears reddening.

"And some of them…male?" persisted Sam.

The Doctor thought back. On Gallifrey, there really was no concept of sexual orientation. In fact, gender was really only a mindset (a constriction for some, considering that Time Lords had the ability to change sex. The Doctor himself had always been male, but someday, perhaps…). Plus, the whole process of reproduction on Gallifrey was achieved by means of incubation. The offspring were reared in artificial genetic looms, so the activity of sex in of itself was really just recreational. The Gallifreyan race saw individuals' souls, rather than their anatomy. The "hipsters" from the human race would call it "pansexual". So no, he'd never really differentiated between men and women.

The truth was, the Doctor had had several "dancing" partners over the years, both male and female. Susan, his granddaughter, had a grandmother. A _female_ grandmother, to be clear. He'd had a few dalliances with men and women throughout the universe. Queens and princesses seemed to be particularly drawn to him (a few princes, too).

The Doctor had never particularly traveled with anyone he'd "danced" with, save for a special few. There was Fitz Kreiner, whom he had traveled with in his eighth life, as well a few shared kisses with Grace Holloway, though she ultimately turned down his offer to join him in the TARDIS. Then there was Turlough in his fifth life, and he was pretty sure Romana and his fourth self had danced a bit too. Though it was hard to remember. They went to quite a few mad parties, usually stocked with plenty of hyper-vodka. Anything could have happened.

And, of course, in his younger days, there was Susan's grandmother, and then in his second form, he'd danced a bit with his companion, Jamie McCrimmon. He didn't really know why. The enthusiastic Highlander was really just a boy when the Doctor had picked him up. Maybe it was the dark shaggy hair, or the youthful fighter's spirit. But Jamie had undoubtedly reminded the Doctor of…

"Yes. A couple," the Doctor answered finally.

Sam nodded. "Hey, that's cool. None of my business though. Sorry," he added.

The Doctor kind of laughed at this, though Sam fancied he could read a kind of pained look on the Doctor's face, as if he'd drudged up some old, hurtful memory. "It's just strange," commented the Doctor. "Most of the time, the people I pick up usually ask stuff like 'how is the TARDIS bigger on the inside' or 'where are you from' or 'what's your real name'? But you, you leap right in the big question: sex."

"Well, let me put it this way…" Sam rubbed the back of his neck, not sure how to word it. The Doctor, a.k.a. Theta Sigma, had to be the same man from his visions. "Have you ever loved anyone?"

"Sure," said the Doctor, shrugging. "Tons of people."

"No, Doctor. I don't mean family, I don't mean friends. I mean, have you ever been in a serious, committed relationship. Have you ever been in _love_."

The questions came out in statements. The Doctor swallowed, and his mind wandered to long ago. Centuries back, to his Academy years, to his…

"Once. But it was a long time ago."

The tone in the Doctor's voice rang with finality. "Now," said the Doctor, finally getting a hand on that doorknob. "Let's go see where we've landed. Shall we?"

Sam nodded.

The Doctor smiled. "Fantastic."

And he opened the door.

* * *

The TARDIS had landed in a simple enough looking room. The walls were beige, the floor was tile. The room, void of much furniture, was alit with small blue lamps placed strategically around the perimeter.

The TARDIS was perched on top of a higher level. The center of the room was sunk in. Sam descended the steps to head toward the opposite wall, where the most spectacular thing about the room was. And spectacular it was indeed.

"You lot," said the Doctor, flanking Sam. "You spend all your time thinking about dying. Like you're gonna get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids." He stared out at the same thing Sam was focused on. "But you never take the time to imagine the impossible…that maybe you survive."

They were in space.

Sam and the Doctor were both staring out of a wide picture window, which gave viewage to an extraordinary vista-the stars, as Sam had never seen them before. The sky was inky black, with tiny white diamond stars superimposed on it. The room, as it were, was apparently some kind of space station. And it was directly stationed over a huge, luminous blue orb, swirling with white clouds: Earth. As seen from the heavens.

They were in space. He, Sam Tyler, was in space.

"This is the year five-point-five-slash-apple-twenty-six," said the Doctor, as Sam continued to gaze, entranced, at the breath taking view. "Five billion years in your future. And this is the day…hold on," he muttered, checking his wrist watch (which Sam now realized was rather silly to wear. For a time traveler, the only function a watch would have was telling you how much time had passed). He waited a moment, then looked up.

As if on cue, the scene outside burst with fiery light. The sun, Sam realized.

"This is the day it expands," said the Doctor, nodding to the enormous fireball, towering over the calm blue sphere. He gave Sam a look that held all the wisdom and experience the universe had ever produced.

"Welcome to the end of the world."


	7. Mercy And Loss

**Hello, sweeties! Okay, here it is, episode two, "The End Of The World".**

**I cut down a lot on this episode. One thing I want to point out is that Sam isn't going to be as shocked or upset by the aliens or the TARDIS language thingy as Rose was (whiny brat, I'd be like "f yeah"), but it's still surprising.**

**The flashback below is from "Planet Of Fire", in the Fifth Doctor's era (yum). It's one of my most and least favorite Doctor-Master scenes. Most favorite because the Master mentions being the Doctor's something (It was once supposed to be "brother****", but later, they decided that the Doc and the Mas shouldn't be related. Good thing, because I think incest is just wrong.), and least, because the Doctor just lets the Master die. Like, why didn't you save him?! He loves you! :.( But I think it related well with the whole Cassandra thing.**

**Also, Sam's inner Master is going to be speaking to him from time to time. Maybe Koschei too. What fun!**

**So, do you like the condensed episode? Or no? Leave your opinion. It would really help me in the future.**

**Thanks to Mabudachi-trio, Alowl, Somnone, and keepcalmandfangirlon for reviewing, and anyone else who read. Enjoy! :D**

* * *

_Shuttles five and six now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation, and religion_, announced a computerized voice over a PA system.

Sam stared out the bay window in astonishment. "How long's it got?" asked Sam.

"About half an hour," said the Doctor, again checking his watch. "Then the whole planet gets roasted."

"Is that why we're here?" asked Sam. "I mean, is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?"

"I'm not saving it," said the Doctor. "Time's up."

"But…" Sam gazed out at the orange and blue and black scape before him. "What about the people?"

"It's empty," said the Doctor. "They're all gone. No one left."

Sam let this sink in. "Just me then."

_Don't be so sure._

"Who the hell are you?!" Sam's thoughts were disrupted by a sharp, hoity-toity voice. He whirled around to a see a towering figure in a regal gold and brown robe, complete with matching headpiece. But what was shocking was the man's (It was a man, right?) face. His skin was bright blue, even brighter blue than the TARDIS, as if the man took a bath in paint. His eyebrows were sharp, black lines arching highly over his gold colored, slitted eyes.

"Oh, that's nice, thanks," said the Doctor nonchalantly, as if bright blue, snake-eyed people were a daily occurrence in his life. (They probably were, thought Sam to himself.)

"How did you get in?" demanded Blue, marching straight up to the Doctor. "This is a maximum hospitality zone! The guests have disembarked! They're on their way any second now."

"That's me," said the Doctor cheerfully, pulling a well worn leather wallet out of his leather jacket (for a moment, Sam wondered what else the Doctor had in leather) and flipping it open. "I'm a guest," he said, showing Blue some identification. "Look, I've got an invitation. The Doctor, plus one. I'm the Doctor, and this is Sam Tyler, my plus one," he said, jerking a thumb at Sam. "Is that alright?"

The blue maître d' gave pause to this. "Well…obviously," he said, pulling himself together. "Apologies, et cetera. If you're on board, we'd better start. Enjoy." And with a flap of his robe, he turned on his heel and took his position behind the podium.

"Psychic paper," said the Doctor, showing Sam his wallet. Inside, he saw a simple, blank piece of white paper. "It shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time."

"I don't see anything," said Sam.

The Doctor's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"Is that…bad?" Sam asked tentatively.

"Er…no," said the Doctor, quickly stowing the wallet away in his jacket again.

"So…he's blue," said Sam.

"Sorry if it's not your favorite color," said the Doctor.

"No, it's just that he's…" Sam tried to find the right word.

"Alien?"

"Yeah. That."

The Doctor nodded. "I did warn you. And they'll be a lot more where that came from."

"We have in attendance the Doctor and Sam Tyler," said Blue, in an announcer's voice. "Thank you. All staff to their positions."

A dozen or so butlers came scuttling out. They looked identical to the host, except dressed in simple black robes. "See what I mean?" said the Doctor to Sam. "And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Watch."

"Come along, come along," the host urged the staff. "And now, if I might introduce the next honored guest?"

Sam's eyes drank in all the patrons of the platform with the wide eyed amazement of a child: curious, eager, and amazed, but not disbelieving.

To be honest, Sam had grown up secretly wanting to be an astronaut. To put on the white suit, climb into the shuttle, and take off for new frontiers. Explore planets and meet new life forms not native to Earth. Never did he expect to actually achieve this goal. Especially not in this context!

There were the tree people from the Forest of Cheam, Jabe, Lute, and Coffa. Then there was the Moxx of Balhoon, a short, stubby-legged creature with grey-blue skin and a lightbulb shaped skull. This specimen was the closest in resemblance to the "aliens" in Sam's Earth's pop culture. The Adherents of the Repeated Meme were a ominous looking group, sheathed completely in black cloaks. The brothers Hop Plyleen, inventors of something or other, looked like Earth alligators that simply walked on their hind legs and wore clothing. The Face of Boe, a giant, wrinkled face in a jar. And so many others.

The tree woman, Jabe, approached Sam and the Doctor first. "The gift of peace," she said, beckoning her bodyguard, Lute (or was it Coffa?) to hand the Doctor a potted plant. "I bring you a cutting from my grandfather," she said, gazing upon them regally. She was clearly royalty on her planet, whatever it was called.

"Thank you," said the Doctor, sounding humbled, as he took the plant. He handed the plant off to Sam, muttering, "Yes, gifts…um…" He cleared his throat. "I give you in return…air from my lungs." He blew into the tree woman's face.

Sam wondered what the Doctor had eaten last.

The tree woman didn't seem to mind; in fact, she seemed to absorb the Doctor's breath gladly. "How…intimate," she said. Sam couldn't be sure, but were the patches of bark where Jabe's cheeks should be blushing?

"There's more where that came from," said the Doctor, smiling.

Jabe looked the Doctor over briefly. "I bet there is," she said, smiling as well.

Sam raised an eyebrow.

As the trees moved on, the other various aliens came up and greeted the Doctor. Sam was spit on by the Moxx of Balhoon (well, he supposed that wasn't much better than the Doctor's "air from my lungs" bit), and the Adherents handed the Doctor a simple looking metal ball.

"And last but not least," announced the host. "Our very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen, and trees, and multiforms, consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last human…the Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen."

_Oh good,_ thought Sam. _I won't be the only…_

But upon seeing the Lady Cassandra, he quickly changed his mind.

She (it?) was…flat. Completely and totally flat.

Lady Cassandra was Silly Putty. Flesh colored Silly Putty that someone had stretched across a metal frame. Her translucent skin was so tightly stretched out that Sam could make faint blood vein occasionally pulsing through her. The only other distinguishable feature about her was her face: two eyes caked with eyeliner, two faint nose holes, and rougey red lips, accompanied by a small brown beauty mark.

"Oh, now, don't stare," she said, smiling a wide lipstick smile at the other patrons as her attendants wheeled her metal frame in. The attendants themselves were all white, and carrying huge spray bottles, like insect exterminators. "I know, I know, it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away, and look at the difference! Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty!" She beamed. "I don't look a day over 2000!" Then, to her attendants, she whispered, "Moisturize me. Moisturize me."

The attendant to her left spritzed the surface of Cassandra's flesh with the spray bottle.

Cassandra smiled proudly. "Truly, I am the last human."

Beside Sam, the Doctor was silently laughing. "That's…_human_?" Sam whispered in horror. "In the future?"

"Yep," said the Doctor, having trouble holding in his sniggers.

Sam slowly crept around the room to view the back of Cassandra as she continued to speak. "My father was a Texan," she said. "My mother was from the arctic desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honor them and say goodbye." She gave a clearly feigned sniffle. "Oh, no tears, no tears. I'm sorry. But behold, I bring gifts. From Earth itself…the last remaining ostrich egg."

Behind her, a butler came in, carrying the egg. "Legend says it had a wingspan of fifty feet and blew fire from its nostrils," said Cassandra, then paused. "Or was that my third husband? Oh, no. Oh, don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines!" She struggled to keep her composure. "And here, another rarity."

Another butler came in, wheeling in a 1950's jukebox. "According to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on!"

The butler pressed a button. A record inside began spinning, and Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" played out of the machine.

"Refreshments will be served," said the host over the music. "Earth death in thirty minutes."

The Doctor, enjoying the music, caught sight of Sam rushing for the doors. He made to go after him, but was stopped by the tree queen. "Smile," said Jabe, taking what the Doctor assumed was a picture with what he assumed was a camera. "Thank you," she said, smiling mysteriously.

The Doctor nodded to the queen, then rushed off after his companion.

* * *

Sam had found his way back to the room where the TARDIS had materialized. He was messing around with the metal ball the Adherents have given he and the Doctor.

_Earth death in twenty five minutes,_ said the cool electronic voice over the loud speaker.

"Oh, yeah. Great," said Sam.

He sighed and set the ball down. He looked at the plant beside him, the one that the tree lady had given him. He picked it up and looked at it. "Hello," he said. "I'm Sam…I used to have a cactus. But…it died. I gave it too much water; apparently, cacti don't need that much water…I'm talking to a twig," he said, putting the plant back down.

"Sam? Are you in there?" The doors slid open and the Doctor entered. "Aye-aye," he said, plopping down on the floor next to Sam. "What do you think, then?"

"Well, to be honest…weird. Really weird," answered Sam honestly.

"Oh?" The Doctor propped up his head with his hand. "What do you mean?"

"It's just…they're alien. The aliens are alien," said Sam. "You look at them…and they're alien."

"Good thing I didn't take you to the deep south," said the Doctor, chuckling a bit.

Sam gave the Doctor a long hard look. "So…where are you from, anyway?"

The Doctor shrugged. "All over the place."

Sam thought of that meadow of scarlet grass, with the orange and yellow sky. The alien planet. Koschei's planet. "They all speak English," he said, suddenly realizing this.

"No. You just hear English." The Doctor lay down on his side. "Gift of the TARDIS. Gets inside your head, translates."

Sam was silent. "Bloody hell…look. Just who exactly are you, Doctor? I mean, I know you're a bit of a space pimp, but other than that, I just don't know anything about you. I mean…what are you called? What sort of alien are you?"

"I'm just the Doctor," he said shortly, sitting up and looking away.

"From what planet?"

The Doctor snorted a bit at this. "It's not as if you'd know where it is."

And in that moment, Sam could tell that the Doctor was thinking of that orange planet too. "Where are you from?" he pressed. He wanted a name.

"What does it matter?" snapped the Doctor.

"Tell me who you are!"

"This is who I am, right here, right now! Alright?!" shouted the Doctor. "All that counts is here and now, and this is me!"

"Yeah, and I'm here too!" Sam exclaimed. "Because you brought me here!"

"You're the one that wanted to come," grumbled the Doctor, getting up and stomping away to stare out the wide window.

The computerized voice above announced that the death of the Earth would be in twenty minutes. Sam sighed and came beside the Doctor. "Well…as Annie would say…don't argue with the designated driver. Sorry."

The Doctor grunted, and Sam assumed he was forgiven. There was an awkward silence. "Anyone you want to call?" asked the Doctor finally.

"Huh?" Sam thought of Annie. "No. Not really. I mean, what's the point? Everyone I know died five billion years ago."

"Bundle of laughs, you are," commented the Doctor.

Suddenly, the space station rumbled a bit. "That's not supposed to happen," said the Doctor.

Suddenly, the cool computerized voice came on over the intercom. _Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending._

"Uh, Doctor?" asked Sam. "What do they mean by 'sun filter descending'?"

The Doctor turned to look at him, fear alight in his blue eyes. "It means we're all going to die!"

* * *

The Doctor managed to save Sam and most of the others on board. Unfortunately, Jabe the tree queen, the steward, the Moxx, and a few others were lost.

But he let Cassandra die.

"Have pity!" she cried. "Moisturize me! Oh, oh, Doctor! Oh, I'll do anything!"

"Help her," said Sam quietly. "Isn't that what you do?"

The Doctor wouldn't look at Sam. "Everything has its time. And everything dies."

"I'm…too…young!" And like a balloon, Cassandra's flesh withered and popped.

The Doctor, without a word, turned and walked away. And Sam followed.

_The Master laughed wickedly. The numismation gas had revived him back to his full size, and now, he had more power than he knew what to do with._

_The Doctor, in his fifth form, watched on in horror. From the blue blaze, the Master cried out, "I shall come out of this fire a thousand times stronger, to hound you to the borders of the universe!"_

_But Turlough had succeeded below in cutting off the gas feed. The blue flames faded to bare yellow fire._

_The Master, unable to move, watched in horror as the flames that once revived now began to burn away at his flesh. "No!" he cried out. "Cancel the ray injection immediately!" he ordered the Doctor._

_But the Doctor simply stood there, watching, unable to move._

"_Doctor!" roared the Master. "I'll plague you till the end of time for this!" Then he changed his tactics. "Help me! I'll give you anything in creation. Please!"_

_But the Doctor still just stood there, unwilling to save him._

_The Master stared at the Doctor, heartbrokenly. He whispered, in one last attempt to reach out whatever was left of his old friend, "Won't you show mercy to your own-"_

_But his final plea was cut off by cries of agony as the Master burned to a crisp._

_The Doctor, in shock, watched the flames continue to sizzle and pop, then turned and walked back to his TARDIS, a heaviness in his hearts._

"_Doctor?" asked the American girl, Peri, as the Doctor came in and took his place at the console. "Are you okay?"_

_The Doctor blinked. He had forgotten she was there. "Er, yes, of course. I'm alright."_

* * *

The TARDIS brought them to a street corner in London, in Sam's time. "You think it'll last forever," said the Doctor. "People and cars and concrete. But it won't. One day, it's all gone." The Doctor looked up. "Even the sky."

Sam watched the Doctor as he spoke. The Doctor took a long breath.

"My planet's gone," said the Doctor. "It's dead." He looked at Sam. "It burned, like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust." He looked at the ground. "Before its time."

Sam wasn't sure what to say. "What…happened?" he asked.

The Doctor blinked. "There was a war. And we lost."

Sam felt a seizing pain, and the drums in his head increased. _One-two-three-four. One-two-three-four._ "A war with who?" he asked, ignoring them.

But the Doctor didn't reply.

Sam cleared his throat. "What about your people?" he asked.

The Doctor finally looked back up. "I'm a Time Lord," he admitted. "I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor."

_Don't be so sure._

"I'm left traveling on my own, cause there's no one else," said the Doctor.

"You're not alone," said Sam. "There's me."

The Doctor smiled a bit. This Sam kid was a nice bloke. Why did he remind him of someone… "You've seen how dangerous it is," said the Doctor. "Do you want to go home?"

Sam shook his head. "No. Not really. I want…" But a certain smell caught his fancy. "Oh. Can you smell chips?" It had just occurred to Sam that he hadn't eaten in a long time.

The Doctor sniffed the air and laughed. "Yeah."

"I want chips," said Sam. That was the one thing he _was_ sure about right now.

"Me too," said the Doctor, grinning again. Sam was glad. The Doctor had a nice grin.

"Right then," said Sam, grinning himself. "Before we take off again, chips it is. And you can pay," he added.

The Doctor shrugged. "No money."

Sam snorted. "Right tightwad you are. Fine. Chips on me, then. After all, we've only got five _billion_ years till the shops close!"


	8. Chips And Questions

**Hey guys! Just wanted to add a short chips chapter, to fill you in on Sam's back story. Hope you like it. :)**

* * *

"So, Sam," said the Doctor, licking salt off of his fingers. "What about you?"

Sam shrugged. "What about me?"

"I mean, who are you? Who is Sam Tyler? Is Sam short for 'Samuel'? Got a middle name?"

Sam laughed. "Who's being nosy now?"

"I want to know," said the Doctor. "I mean, all you've done is ask me questions."

"Excuse me," said Sam, raising a haughty eyebrow. "I do believe I saved your arse from some wicked mean store dummies, thank you very much."

"I meant after that," said the Doctor dismissively. "Stop dodging the question. What are you about?"

"Oh, I don't know. Just your average bloke, I guess."

"Really? Nothing at all?" the Doctor asked. "What about a family? You got a family, don't you?"

Sam ate a chip and chewed slowly and thoroughly before speaking. He knew he was driving the Doctor made, but he didn't care. Frankly, it made laugh a little to see the Doctor asking questions and not receiving answers. Give him a taste of his own medicine.

"No family," he finally said. "Just foster parents. The Tylers, Jackie and Pete. They were my first. But the missus gave me up. Couldn't raise a child alone. Husband got hit by a car and died. I don't remember much though, was only a tot back then. But that's how I got my name: Sam Tyler. I didn't have a name beforehand. I was found as a baby on the stoop of the orphanage. So they named me. And I kept it."

Sam paused a bit, then added, "I tried to get in touch with the missus a few years ago. But somehow, the agency lost track of her. Sad. I wish I could tell her thank you. Both of them, really."

"So, after that…what happened?" asked the Doctor.

"Oh, I switched around from foster family to foster family. I had five or six or so. But," he laughed a little, "I was kind of a problem child. I always was getting into trouble."

"How so?" asked the Doctor.

Sam laughed again. "Did you know…I wanted to be an astronaut? Yeah. See space and all that. Never really pictured actually doing it, especially not like this. But yeah…I was always trying to build rocket ships out of old spare parts. One time, my foster mum found me in the garage, nine years old, trying to build a space ship out of the parts from her husband's car! Should've seen her face!"

The Doctor cracked up at this. "Yeah, it was pretty bad," said Sam. "Needless to say…I was shortly deported back to the adoption agency."

"Well, what was high school like?" asked the Doctor. "Did you ever get your a-levels?"

"No," said Sam. "I was too busy getting a band together with my mate, Jimmy Stone."

"What did you play?" asked the Doctor, curious.

"The drums."

"Ah," said the Doctor. "And the name of this band?"

"'Driveshaft'," replied Sam. "We all lived in an apartment in the Powell Estates together. My, Jimmy, and these two brothers, Liam and Charlie Pace. We had one song, and it was really great. Got on the radio and everything. It was one of those songs that's popular just cause it's really catchy. It went '_you all everybody…you all everybody_…'"

The Doctor suddenly joined in. "_Actin' like them stupid people, wearin' expensive clothes_."

"You know it?" asked Sam, surprised.

The Doctor laughed. "Of course I know it! Even a hundred years in the future, that song is still around. I just can't believe I'm actually talkin' to one of the original artists! You're like Ringo in the future, you know that?"

"Yeah, but Ringo's the one no one really paid much attention to," Sam pointed out.

The Doctor shrugged. "Ah, still. Well, why did Driveshaft break up? Wasn't it a drug problem, or something?"

"Yeah…oh, no, not me!" he added, seeing the Doctor's shocked expression. "No, I'd never do something like that, no. Liam and Jimmy, they got into the heroin, and later, so did Charlie, and by that time, we were dying out. So, the band broke up. Charlie and Jimmy went off God knows where, and Liam went to Australia to get himself clean. Hope it works. Poor mate."

"So long story short, I moved into the apartment by myself, took a job at Hunt's Department Shop, and boom. Full circle," Sam concluded, chucking his chips wrapper in the trash bin.

The Doctor nodded, having soaked all this in. "And…what about Annie?"

Sam laughed. "That is a long story. I guess I have Jimmy to thank for her."

"What, he introduced you two?"

"In a manner of speaking," Sam chuckled. "He and Liam had been getting zonked before a concert, and when they got out on stage, they were pretty drunk. The cops had to end up being called. I went with the two of them to the police station, and the constable on staff was Annie. We got to talking and joking, and before I know it, I'm asking her out for coffee. Annie's the best thing that ever happened to me, honestly."

"Although," he added after a thought. "This whole adventure we've had? It definitely comes a close second."

The Doctor hid a smile. "Yeah, well…you looked bored."

"Not bored," said Sam. "Just…lost, I guess. And besides, you looked like you didn't have a friend in the world. Everybody needs a mate…no, not like that!" he exclaimed at the Doctor's surprised look. "I meant…you know…a buddy. A pal. You know."

"Yeah…" After a moment of looking far off, the Doctor jumped up. "Come on. Let's get out of here."


	9. Dickens And Demons

**Hey readers! Here it is, the next episode: "The Unquiet Dead". Again, highly condensed.**

**Okay, yes, I stole Professor Yana's outfit. I thought it looked really freaking hot on John Simm, and he only wore it for like five minutes. I felt gypped. So this is my "revenge" (sort of). And apparently, the Doctor thinks it's just as hot on the Master as I do. ;)**

**The flashback is from the 1996 TV movie with the Eighth Doctor, and I thought it was a really ridiculous scene, so I plugged it when for while Sam is changing. By the way, while I'm on the subject, I would just like to say that I have now officially watched at least one episode/serial from each Doctor's era. Except Six. Because f**k Six (kidding...sort of). And Twelve, because they don't exist yet. (Too bad I'm not a Time Lord.)**

**So, I'm a little disappointed that no one caught my _Lost_ reference from the last chapter, but hey, maybe I just don't have any Losties in the house. But I'll give you another chance: keep an eye out for a line from _Sherlock_.**

**I'll try and combine the next two episodes into one chapter (because it's a two parter), but it's mainly going to be about Sam's home life and Annie.**

**Thanks to HaleyBlack'Cile'coldfire (Welcome, newcomer!), Somnone, Mabaduchi-trio, and keepcalmandfangirlon for commenting, and to anyone else who read. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hold that one down!"

"I _am_ holding this one down!"

"Well, hold them of both down!"

"It's not going to work!" Sam cried out in frustration, straining to reach the lever while maintaining his grip on the other. He asked the Doctor curiously if he would teach him how to fly the TARDIS, but for some reason, it wasn't going very well.

"Oi! I promised you a time machine and that's what you're getting!" The Doctor punched a few buttons, and the shaking continued, but thankfully became less fervent. The Doctor looked triumphant. "Now, you've seen the future. Let's have a look at the past! 1860, how does 1860 sound?"

"What happened in 1860?" asked Sam.

"I don't know, let's find out. Hold on, here we go!" The Doctor grabbed a lever and pulled back.

The TARDIS touched down with a nasty jolt, sending Sam and the Doctor crashing to the floor. "Blimey," groaned Sam as the Doctor let out a joyous cackle.

"You're telling me. You alright?" asked the Doctor.

"Yeah, I think so," said Sam, laughing now as well. "Nothing broken." He stood up and joined the Doctor at the computer. "Did we make it? Where are we?"

"I did it! Give the man a medal," cheered the Doctor. He was in rather a good mood, having Sam on board. The TARDIS didn't feel quite so empty now. "Earth, Naples, December 24, 1860."

"Why Christmas Eve?" asked Sam.

"Dunno," shrugged the Doctor. "Sounds good though."

"It's just…brilliant," said Sam, grinning. "Because this, here, now…it's all over. Except for you, though."

The Doctor smiled. "Not a bad life, eh?"

Sam shrugged, looking away. "Yeah, but…better with a friend, right?"

The Doctor nodded. "Friends are good."

"Well…come on, then," said Sam, breaking for the door.

"Oi, where do you think you're going?" asked the Doctor.

"Er…1860?"

"Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot, Marty McFly," teased the Doctor, gesturing to Sam's blue jeans, grey trainers, casual button up, and black hoodie. "There's a wardrobe through there. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left."

Sam rolled his eyes. "A costume change. Are you joshing me, mate?"

"I never josh…much," said the Doctor, flashing a toothy grin reminiscent of his fourth incarnation. "Now hurry up!"

Laughing, Sam took off up the stairs.

* * *

"_I suppose he neglected to mention there won't be any place left to spend your money!" The Doctor's words were punctuated by a sharp slap from Grace, heavily under the Master's mind control. She was beyond help, but if he could make the boy see reason-_

"_Which is why we have no time to waste," said a sinister voice from the balcony of the TARDIS._

_The Doctor, strapped securely to the gurney, twisted his head around to address the Master. "But time to change!" he shouted sardonically, as the Master descended the staircase, adorned with formal Gallifreyan robes, black and crimson with grand gold embroidery._

_The Master, in his stolen American body, smiled wickedly. His feline-like eyes (surely remnants of the virus he had contracted on the cheetah planet) were still sheathed behind aviator-style sunglasses. He gestured with his arms, modeling his ensemble. "I always dress for the occasion."_

* * *

The Doctor was ferreting around in the "basement" of the TARDIS with his sonic screwdriver when Sam emerged. "I don't know, Doctor. D'ya think it's too…much?"

"What?" The Doctor raised his head and stopped short.

Sam was dressed in simple black trousers and shoes, a white shirt with grand baggy sleeves, a dark burgundy vest, and a black floppy bow tie. He looked surprisingly dashing. The Doctor was quite taken off guard. "Blimey…" he finally said.

"Oi, one little giggle-" Sam threatened.

"No, no, you look…" The Doctor cleared his throat. "Very period appropriate," he said, looking down, continuing to scan the ship's wiring. He was trying to hide his pink cheeks.

"Er…I think that's a compliment," said Sam. Then he realized that the Doctor was still wearing his normal clothes. "Aren't you going to change?" he asked.

"I changed my jumper," said the Doctor cheekily. He climbed up to the main level of the control room and headed to the door. "Come on!"

"No!" said Sam, racing him. "You get to do this all the time. This one's my turn!"

Sam opened the door…and a light fall of snow immediately fell into his light brown hair. "Er, Doctor…" he called. "I don't think we're in Naples."

The Doctor joined him outside. He took in their surroundings. Then, he curiously stuck out his tongue, as if tasting the air. "Hm. You're right. My landing was a bit off. This isn't 1860, it's 1869. And it's not Naples, either. It's Cardiff."

"Oh…Cardiff," said Sam, a bit disappointed. He had been excited to see Italy, a place he'd never been to, even in present day. There wasn't much special about Cardiff.

"Ah, well," said the Doctor, shrugging. "It's still Christmas Eve." He grinned at Sam mischievously. "Let's go get into some trouble, shall we?"

* * *

"You know, when you said 'trouble', I didn't think you meant it literally," said Sam later to the Doctor, when he showed up at the funeral home where Sneed and his servant girl had brought him when they kidnapped him. Sam had been knocked out by Sneed and woken up to find two corpses coming to life before his eyes and stalking him like prey. _Blimey, first the mannequins and now this!_

"It must be a prank. Must be," said the other man the Doctor had shown up with. He looked familiar to Sam for some reason. He had curly brown hair, and a curly beard and mustache to match. He looked to be about in his late fifties, and he spoke with a sort of poetic diction. "We're under some mesmeric influence."

"No, we're not. The dead are walking," negated the Doctor. Then, he added to Sam, "Hi, by the way."

"Hi," said Sam. "Nice of you to drop in. Who's your friend?"

"Ah, yeah, this is Charles Dickens," said the Doctor nonchalantly.

"Oh. Your parents named you after the writer, then?" asked Sam.

The Doctor stared at Sam, waiting patiently.

"Oh…_ohhh_," said Sam, realization dawning on him. "Bloody hell…"

As it turned out, the dead weren't really rising. The Doctor explained that there was a rift in Cardiff, a rift in time and space, and that something was sneaking through and inhabiting the bodies. The Doctor wasn't sure what the entities were, but they seemed to be some sort of gas creatures. Charles-Sam still couldn't get over it. _The_ Charles Dickens!-just wouldn't accept it.

Sam decided he needed to do something normal, so he helped the servant girl, Gwyneth, wash dishes. She claimed that he needn't bother, but Sam insisted. "Seems like that old piss works you to death. How much does he pay you, anyway?"

"Eight pounds a year, sir," she said, in her quiet Welsh accent.

Sam was shocked. "I know," nodded Gwyneth, studying Sam's face. "I would've been happy with six." _Blimey, how things change in a century and a half._

"So…did you even go to school, or what?" asked Sam.

Gwyneth laughed a bit. "Of course I did. What do you think I am, some sort of urchin? I went every Sunday, nice and proper."

"Only once a week," marveled Sam. "Well, where I'm from, that'd be considered lucky."

"We did sums and everything," said Gwyneth. "To be honest…" She lowered her voice. "I hated every second."

Sam laughed. "Me too."

"Don't tell anyone," said Gwyneth, "but one week…I didn't go. I ran on the heath all on my own!"

Sam realized that the girl was probably opening up for the first time in a long time. _Right shame. Poor girl doesn't have anyone to talk to but dead bodies and that old wanker Sneed._ "I did plenty of that," he admitted. "My and my mate Jimmy. We'd go down to this guy's basement and drink beers."

Gwyneth blushed. "Well, I don't know about that, sir," she said, turning away.

"Ah, come on," laughed Sam. "Times haven't changed that much, have they? I mean, don't tell me you've never nipped a little at the cooking sherry."

"I don't think so, sir," she whispered, pretending to concentrate on drying a plate.

"Gwyneth, you can tell me," said Sam. "We're mates, aren't we?"

Gwyneth finally turned around, a sheepish grin on her face. "Well…there was this one time…"

"Ah, see, I knew it," said Sam, grinning.

Gwyneth got a dreamy look in her eye. "It was a warm summer night. A few of my school mates were gathered outside a pub. The butcher's boy managed to swipe some mead for all of us…I had a little too much, I think. So much that I…" She let out a giggle. "I kissed him!"

Sam laughed appreciatively. "Well, sometimes, you've gotta plunge in, headfirst."

"Like you did with the Doctor?" asked Gwyneth.

Sam was suddenly taken aback. "What?!"

"Isn't he your…" Gwyneth reddened.

"No, no! It's nothing like that, I swear," said Sam, also blushing furiously. "I've got a girl back home, love." It was just then that Sam realized that he had not thought of Annie for some time since taking off with the Doctor.

"Ah. I see," said Gwyneth, clearly embarrassed. "Please pardon me, sir."

"Ah, it's okay. Wouldn't be the first time someone's thought that I...but for the record, if anyone out there still cares, I'm not gay," he added.

Gwyneth looked confused. "You're unhappy?"

"Oh, no," said Sam. "See, where I come from, a 'gay' man is one that likes other men."

Gwyneth shook her head. "I swear. It is the strangest thing, sir. You've got the clothes and the breeding, but you talk like some sort of rabble-rouser."

Sam shrugged. "Maybe I am. Not necessarily a bad thing, though." He added gently, "you need more in your life than Mr. Sneed."

Gwyneth smiled sadly. "Oh, that's not fair," she defended. "He's not so bad, old Sneed. He was very kind to take me in. I lost my mum and dad to the flu when I was twelve."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," said Sam empathetically.

"Thank you, sir," said Gwyneth, her face mirroring Sam's sympathy. "But we must remember that someday, we'll be with the ones we love again. Maybe your friend's up there too, sir."

"Maybe," said Sam. "Um…wait, what friend?"

Gwyneth, realizing she'd said too much, quickly turned back to the washbasin and began drying another plate. "I don't know…just ignore me," said Gwyneth.

"Gwyneth?" asked Sam, now very worried. "What do you know?"

Gwyneth shook her head. "Mr. Sneed says I talk too much. I'm all alone down here. I bet you've got tons of servants where you're from, eh?"

"No," said Sam. "No servants in the Powell Estates."

"Mm," mused Gwyneth. "And you've come such a long way."

Sam's blood ran cold. "What…what makes you say that?"

Gwyneth tilted her head. "You're from London…no. There's another place in your head. A field on fire. Red grass and orange sky, and two sunsets. And there's…a school? Where boys and girls go to learn…far beyond human capacity. Yes. It's unearthly, that place. And the place has magic coaches that fly, or something of the like…and you flown in one. Flown so far…you've seen the darkness. _The big, bad wolf!_" She stopped. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, sir."

"No, it's…it's fine," said Sam, feeling sick.

"I can't help it," whispered Gwyneth fearfully. "Ever since I was a little girl, my mum said I had the sight. She told me to hide it!"

"But it's getting stronger," said a voice that made them both jump. The Doctor was standing there, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. "More powerful, is that right?"

Gwyneth swallowed. "All the time, sir," she whispered. "Every night…voices in my head."

"You grew up on top of the rift," said the Doctor. "You're part of it. You're the key."

"I've tried to make sense of it, sir," said Gwyneth. "Consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts."

"Well, that should help," said the Doctor. "You can show us what to do."

"What to do where, sir?" asked Gwyneth.

The Doctor smiled. "We're going to have a séance."

* * *

The "ghosts", or rather, the Gelth, turned out to be the straggling last members of a species nearly wiped out by the Doctor's Time War. They asked to be let through the rift to inhabit the bodies of dead people.

"We can't," protested Sam.

"Why not?" said the Doctor, shrugging callously. "It's like recycling."

"But it's just…wrong, mate!" cried Sam in frustration. "Those bodies used to be people, we need to respect that!"

"Do you carry a donor card?" asked the Doctor.

Sam sputtered. "That's…completely irrelevant!"

The Doctor shrugged. "Get used to it, or go home."

Sam exhaled, trying hand not to punch the Doctor in the mouth. "Look, Doctor," he said, lowering his voice. "I know what this is about. You feel…guilty. You think that since your people are gone, you have to save these Gelth, but the fact is-"

"The fact is, this conversation is over." The Doctor stomped out of the room, leaving Sam hanging.

Sam beseeched Gwyneth not to do it, that she could be in danger, but Gwyneth proclaimed that she was meant to do this. "My angels," she said, smiling widely, showing a gap between her two front teeth. "I can help them live."

* * *

The Doctor should have listened to Sam.

The Gelth had lied. They were not dying out, and they did not want to take the corpses. They intend on taking all the bodies on Earth, dead or alive.

The Gelth cornered Sam and the Doctor, in a small alley behind a metal gate that wouldn't hold for long.

"I can't die, can I?" asked Sam, panicking. "I haven't even been born yet!"

"Time isn't a straight line," said the Doctor desperately. "It can twist into any shape. You can be born in the twentieth century and die in the nineteenth and it's all my fault. I brought you here."

"Hey," said Sam. "It's not your fault, Doctor. I wanted to come."

"What about me?" fretted the Doctor. "I saw the fall of Troy, World War V! I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party! And now, I'm going to die in a dungeon…in _Cardiff_!"

"Blimey…turned into a zombie. Not my first choice for death," commented Sam.

"You know, you have got a sick sense of humor sometimes, you know that?" said the Doctor. "Reminds me of this bloke I used to know."

"Well…we'll go down fighting, yeah?" said Sam.

"Yeah," said the Doctor.

"Together?"

"Yeah."

Sam felt the Doctor take his hand. The Doctor smiled, trying to hide his terror. "I'm so glad I met you," said the Doctor.

Sam smiled, also trying to be brave. "Me too."

* * *

But they didn't die that day. Charles Dickens ended up saving them. But it was Gwyneth, poor Gwyneth, who was the real hero. She gave her life to rid their world of the Gelth.

"She saved the world," said Sam. "A servant girl. And no one will ever know."

Charles left them in an uncharacteristically good mood. He said he was going home to spend Christmas with his family. "This morning, I thought I knew everything in the world!" he said gleefully. "Now I know I've just started. All these huge and wonderful notions, Doctor. I'm inspired. I must write about them."

"Good luck with it, and nice to meet you," said the Doctor. "Fantastic."

"Bye, and thanks," said Sam, warmly shaking the writer's hand.

"Oh, thank you, but…I don't understand," Charles said. "In what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?"

"In the 'shed'," said the Doctor, unlocking the TARDIS.

"Oh my soul," said the writer, shaking his head. "Doctor, it's one riddle after another with you. But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this: who are you?"

The Doctor hesitated before answering. He smiled sadly and said, "Just a friend, passing through."

"But you have such knowledge of future times. I don't wish to impose on you, but I must ask you. My books. Doctor…do they last?"

The Doctor grinned widely. "Oh, yes."

"For how long?"

"Forever," said the Doctor.

Charles smiled at this, looking like he might just cry.

"Right…shed," said the Doctor. "Come on, Sam."

"I-in the box?" asked the writer, looking the two men queerly. "Both of you?"

"Down, boy," laughed the Doctor. "See ya!"

Charles Dickens watched as the pair stepped inside the tiny blue box and shut the doors behind them. He looked with fervent amazement as the box began to fade in and out of existence, making a great wheezing noise as it disappeared from the street.

Charles found himself laughing as he turned and walked home. "Merry Christmas, sir!" said a man passing him in the street.

"Merry Christmas," the writer said merrily. "God bless us. Everyone!"


	10. Lost And Found

**Okay, guys, let's address some things. First of all, don't think that just because I'm writing this story, I don't like Rose. I do. She's a good character. So can everyone stop being all "f*ck Rose", please? I'm not just talking to you guys. I'm talking to the fandom as a whole.**

**Secondly, I didn't much like the way this chapter came out. I don't know why. I call this a "filler" chapter, which means it focuses more on the interpersonal stuff between characters and just kinds skims over the main adventure of the episode. (For some reason, "Aliens Of London"/"World War Three" was kind of boring to me.) There wasn't much Doctor-Rose interaction in these episodes; they more focused on Rose's home life.**

**And thirdly, please don't hate on Annie. She's kind of like Mickey and Jackie combined into one, and I liked the both of them too. How would you react if your boyfriend just disappeared for a year, then just came back out of nowhere?**

**Look out for more "Bad Wolf" references, and a cameo from the fob watch! :D**

**Thanks to Alowl, Mabudachi-trio, and keepcalmandfangirlon for reviewing, and anyone else who read. Enjoy!**

* * *

"So, where to next?" asked the Doctor, as Sam descended the stairs of the TARDIS, redressed in his normal wardrobe.

"Er…" Sam had actually been thinking about Annie ever since Gwyneth reminded him of her. "I was thinking we could stop at home."

"Home," repeated the Doctor, sounding confused.

"You know…Powell Estates, 2005?"

"Oh, yeah, of course!" The Doctor immediately turned to the console and began fiddling with the controls, not meeting Sam's eye. "Home. Well…I suppose it was only a matter of time anyway. Mind you, I did think it'd be a little while until…but I suppose if you want to go, that's your prerogative. So yeah…" The TARDIS materialized in the real world outside. "I guess this is it then. Home."

With a wistful smile, he shook Sam's hand firmly and said, "Had a fantastic time with you, Sam. Really fantastic. Honestly."

"Er…Doctor? I only meant for a visit."

The Doctor slowly dropped Sam's hand. "Oh. Yeah, I knew that."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Very pretty speech. Are you going to sing me a round of Whitney Houston as well?"

"Oi, shut it," said the Doctor, hiding his pink face as he walked out of the TARDIS. Sam followed, still chuckling.

"So…how long have I been gone?" he asked as he surveyed the familiar street. It felt like home, even with its litter and its pigeon dung and its graffiti all over the brick walls. He read the various tags on the walls subconsciously, realizing he'd never really read them before. _Chad waz here. Go Bulldogs. Bad Wolf. Red Hawks rule._ And others.

"About twelve hours," said the Doctor, leaning up against the doors of the TARDIS.

The two men laughed. It was insane. Sam felt like he'd been gone at least a week. And yet, it had all passed by so quickly. Life in the TARDIS, with the Doctor, was never a dull moment. "Right," said Sam. "Well, I just want to stop by my apartment, pick up a few things, see if Annie made it home alright, and then, you and me can be off before you can say 'Bob's your uncle'."

"I've never had a reason to say that," remarked the Doctor. "But I'll take your word for it. What are you going to tell your girlfriend?"

"Blimey, hadn't thought of that," said Sam, clapping a hand to his forehead. "Well, I'll think of something. Say, maybe she'll want to come with us-"

"No," said the Doctor quickly.

"What? Why not?" asked Sam.

"Because I said so," said the Doctor. "I don't want you two making my ship a domestic love nest."

"Listen, mate, you'd love Annie. She's brilliant, she's funny, she's tough…rather a lot like you, actually."

"Well, I'll think about it," said the Doctor, in a tone that clearly negated this statement. As far as it concerned the Doctor, he wasn't bringing some bird on board. Don't get the Doctor wrong, he'd had chicks on his ship before, obviously. Some of them, like Tegan, Romana, Ace, and Sarah Jane had been some of his best mates. But the Doctor already had a handful with Sam. He didn't need another damsel in distress.

"Well, see you later," said Sam, shaking the Doctor from his train of thought. He began to walk away, but stopped. "Er…you're not going to…fly away when I leave, are you?"

The Doctor walked over to Sam. He stared into Sam's green eyes with own steely blue ones and said, "Why do you think I'd leave you?"

_Because you've done it before._

"I…dunno," said Sam uncomfortably, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Tell you what," said the Doctor, reaching into his own pocket and producing a strange looking metal disc on a chain and pressing it into Sam's hand. "TARDIS key," he said. "About time you had one."

Sam stared at the foreign key intently. "Thanks," he finally said. "Well…see you later." He turned around and headed for the flat complex, hiding his warm cheeks.

Sam climbed the stairs (Weird, when had the elevator broken?) up to his apartment and dug his key out of his pocket. He slipped it into the keyhole, but it wouldn't turn. "What the hell?" he muttered, jiggling the key.

Suddenly, the door opened from the inside. A short man with thinning hair, a sweater vest, and thick black glasses appeared. "Excuse me, young man, what do you think you're doing?" he asked.

Sam gaped at the man. "Who the hell are you? And how did you get in my apartment?"

"_Your_ apartment? I've lived here for nine months."

Sam stared in disbelief. He looked at the number on the door, but yes, he did have the right door. "There must be some mistake," he stammered. "Because I've lived here for three years."

"You must be mistaken. Good day," said the bald man, quickly shutting the door in Sam's face.

"Wait!" Sam knocked on the door, but all he heard was the double bolt lock from the inside.

"What the hell?" he said. He pounded on the door. "Look, mate, I don't know what you're playing at, but this is my flat, and you are gonna let me in right now! I'll break down this door if I have to!"

The bald man called the cops.

* * *

"Ouch, ouch, oi, watch it!" he grumbled as the constable pushed him roughly into the station.

"Send for the DI," said the constable. "We got a live one here."

"That guy broke into my apartment!" shouted Sam. "He changed the locks! I-"

"Sam?"

Sam turned around. There stood a pretty woman with long, reddish brown hair and hazel eyes, in a DI's uniform. "Annie!" he exclaimed. "Explain it to these guys. Some man-" But he was cut off as Annie rushed into his arms and pulled him into a bone-crushing embrace…then she slapped him.

"_Where the hell have you been_?!" she shouted, tears brimming up in her eyes.

"Well, I…" Sam stammered, rubbing his smarting cheek. This was what he hadn't been prepared for. "Look, I-I'm sorry I didn't call you back last night, but-"

"Last night? _Last night_?!" she exclaimed, absolutely livid.

"Yeah, you see-" Then he caught sight of something behind her on the wall.

It was a missing person's poster, with his face on it. And right next to it, a calendar, set to March…2006.

"What?"

"Sam," whispered Annie, clearly trying to control her anger. "You've been missing a whole _year_."

* * *

Annie angrily explained that she knew Sam. She stuffed him into her car and they sped away.

"A whole year," said Sam as Annie drove in heated silence. "That's-no. The Doctor said that we-"

"I get sucked into a garbage can!" shouted Annie. "And then I wake up in some underground boiler room. Then you show up out of _nowhere_ with this 'Doctor' person and tell me to go home. The next thing I know, people are dying in the streets. Attacked by _shop store dummies coming to life_! And the only word I hear from you is, 'I'll call you tomorrow and explain everything'. Except you never did! I assumed you'd been killed by one of those…_things_! But no! Apparently, you and your new _boyfriend_ have been gallivanting off to…God knows where! Boy, am I a fool!"

"He's not my boyfriend!" exclaimed Sam. "Why does everyone think that?"

"I cannot _believe_ you!" screeched Annie. "I had dozens of officers looking for you, for nearly three months! I thought you were dead, and where were you?"

"Traveling," answered Sam meekly.

"What the hell does that mean, 'traveling'0? That's not an answer!"

"I'm sorry, Ann, but that's what I was doing."

"And you left all your things behind?! Clothes, toothbrush, passport?! In fact, I'm pretty sure those are the same clothes you were wearing that day! By the way, I kept all your stuff when they moved that Harris bloke into your apartment…because you hadn't paid your rent in three months!"

"Annie, just take me back to the Estates, please. The Doctor's there, and we can explain everything, I promise!"

"Why should I believe you?!" questioned Annie.

"Because…I don't know." Sam crossed his arms and looked out the window.

After a moment, Annie turned the car around and headed for the Estates.

* * *

"First, we end up in 1869, instead of 1860. But I didn't care about that. What I do care about is missing an _entire year_ of my life!" Sam exclaimed, when he found the Doctor standing right where he'd left him, next to the TARDIS.

"What?" asked the Doctor confusedly.

"It hasn't been twelve hours, it's been twelve _months_," said Sam. "I thought you knew how to fly that thing!"

The Doctor looked peeved. "I do!...Sometimes, I just…get off by a bit."

"Twelve months?!" said Sam incredulously. "My girlfriend is ready to flay us _both_ within an inch of our lives."

"Speak of the devil," commented the Doctor as Annie, no, Detective Inspector Cartwright marched up to the two.

"Ah. Anna. Good to see you again," said the Doctor, smiling.

"My name is _Annie_," she said, gritting her teeth.

"No, it's Anna."

"I think I know my own name!"

"You _think_ you know your own name?" The Doctor laughed.

"Doctor!" scolded Sam.

Annie looked impatient. "Have you two got your lie in order?"

"Annie, I haven't told you a single lie yet," protested Sam.

"I'm not speaking to you at the moment," she said coldly. She glared at the Doctor. "You were the last person seen with Sam Tyler. Therefore, I am holding you personally responsible for his whereabouts between March 3rd, 2005, and March 4th, 2006." She crossed her arms. "You better have a pretty damn good alibi."

"Well, you see," said the Doctor. "I employed Sam here as my companion."

"'Companion'? Was this a sexual relationship?"

"_No!_" shouted Sam and the Doctor simultaneously.

"Fine. Where did you and your 'companion' go for a year?" questioned Annie.

"I told you, Ann. We were…traveling," said Sam meekly.

"Traveling," repeated Annie disgustedly at the Doctor, even though it was Sam that had spoken. "You know what? I'm putting you under arrest for kidnapping, at least until I get some answers!" In one smooth movement, Annie whipped out her hand cuffs, turned the Doctor around and shoved him up against the TARDIS. "Come on," she said, chaining the Doctor's hands. "I'm putting you in here until I can get some back up!"

She opened the doors and pushed the Doctor roughly inside. Then, she saw in the inside. She stood there, mouth agape. "Wha…"

"Come on, Annie," said Sam, gently coaxing her inside. "We have a lot to talk about."

* * *

"I just…I don't believe it," said Annie later, in complete shock. She was sitting on the jump seat in the console room, while the Doctor and Sam told her about their past few days together. "And this…this box…it travels in time?"

"And space," said the Doctor. "Would you mind taking these off now?"

"Oh, sorry," said Annie numbly, unlocking the handcuffs.

"Thanks," he said, rubbing his wrists.

"And it's only been a few days?" she asked in amazement.

"Yes," said Sam. "Freaky, eh?"

"This is impossible," she said, shaking her head. She looked up at Sam, wide-eyed. "Did you know they pronounced you dead? You're dead, according to the records. They have a certificate and everything."

"Annie, look," said Sam, taking her hands. "I'm really, _really_ sorry. I was supposed to come back after twelve hours. But the Doctor mucked up."

"Hey!" said the Doctor indignantly.

"But what-" Annie was cut off as there was a tremendous noise outside.

"What the hell was that?" said Sam.

"Dunno," said the Doctor. "Let's go find out."

* * *

Aliens. In London.

A spaceship had crash landed in the Thames River. But even that was simply an Earth pig stolen from some farm and stuffed into a space craft. The real threat lie in Downing Street, where members of the Slitheen family, from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius (try saying that five times fast) had infiltrated the British government. The Doctor and Sam, along with the help of Annie and Harriet Jones, an MP for Flydale North, managed to stop the aliens from destroying the planet.

Sam watched on TV as Harriet Jones, who would later be elected Prime Minister, say to the press, "Mankind stands tall, proud and undefeated. God bless the human race."

"It's just…I can't believe it, Sammy." Annie was watching beside him. They were sitting on the couch in Annie's house. "We _saved_ the world. You and me."

"And the Doctor," added Sam.

"Yes," added Annie begrudgingly. "And the Doctor."

"Not so bad now, is he?" asked Sam.

She sighed. "No, but…you could've called me."

"I know. I'm sorry," he said, kissing her forehead.

"Just three days?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Well…I suppose you're forgiven," she said, smiling sadly at him. "Though I still don't trust that Doctor."

"Someone say my name?" said the Doctor, coming in.

"Yes," said Annie, standing up. "And I want to talk to you. Tell me something, Doctor: is Sam safe with you?"

"Annie-"

"No, I mean it," she said. "Are you safe, Doctor? Because it seems all fun and smart, but…Sam could've died out there."

The Doctor looked at her gravely. "Sam was right about you. You're a smart girl. And you're right, Sam is in danger, traveling with me. But I swear…I would die before I'd let someone hurt him."

Annie sighed and nodded, knowing the Doctor was telling the truth. She still worried…but she knew there wasn't really anything she could do.

"Course," said the Doctor. "You could always come with us. It might help. Having a mother hen on board." Sam noted that the Doctor had changed his tone. There still seemed to be some tension between the two, but maybe they could friends after all.

Annie laughed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but…no. I can't. It's too much."

"Right," said the Doctor, nodding. "I understand."

"Ann," said Sam, taking her hand. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she said, with a pained smile. "Wouldn't want to intrude on your sausage fest anyway." She laughed.

"Okay," said Sam. "If you're absolutely sure."

She nodded her head.

"Listen, Doctor," Sam said. "I'm going to go pack a bag, alright? Annie had a point, I'm probably going to need my toothbrush where we're going."

They all laughed. "Sure," said the Doctor.

Sam went to the room where Annie was keeping all his stuff. He packed some things into a backpack: clothes, toiletries, pictures, an old pocket watch, and a couple of good books. "Ready," he said to himself.

Annie and the Doctor were watching a kid scrub the words "Bad Wolf" off the side of the blue box. "Graffiti that again and you'll catch it," threatened the Doctor as the kid ran off. "Now, ready?" he addressed Sam.

"Absolutely." Sam kissed Annie goodbye, and he and the Doctor were off on another adventure.


	11. War And Peace

**Hey, guys! 32 reviews? I'm unworthy. :)**

**I hated skimming over this episode, because it's one of Christopher Eccleston's best. When I was watching it, I spazzed out because I found out that David Tennant stole the "intruder window" joke from Henry Van Statten! I feel so betrayed now.**

**This chapter features The Eye of Orion, which is a place the Fifth Doctor took Tegan and Turlough during "The Five Doctors". If I had a TARDIS, I think I'd spend about 40% of my time there. Sorry it's short. I intended for this to be a heart to heart between Sam and the Doc, where the Doctor told Sam about the Master. But then you guys would be all like, "Ooh, he's knows Sam's the Master!" No, no he doesn't. He still doesn't suspect, because Sam's so drastically different from the Master. Sam's actually closer to Koschei. But anyway, so this one's just another short and sweet one. But those are my favorites to write anyway. :)**

**Thanks to Alowl, Mabudachi-trio, meetmeyesterday (lovely to meet you), and keepcalmandfangirlon for commenting, and to anyone else who read. Enjoy!**

* * *

The encounter with the Dalek showed Sam a completely different Doctor.

Sam had been kind of stunned when the Doctor simply stood there and let Cassandra die. But this time…the Doctor only had pure white hot burning hatred for the metal creature.

The whole story came out. The Dalek, like the Doctor, was the last survivor of its race. The only Dalek left after the Great Time War. And the Doctor wasn't just the sole remnant of the occurrence; he was the source. The Doctor had destroyed everyone, everything in that war. He was a murderer. No wonder Sam felt this inane sense of shame emanating from the Doctor. He wasn't just alone. He was guilty.

But the Doctor was determined not to let his people have died in vain. He had to destroy this last Dalek, the last reminder of his treachery.

"Get out of the way," said the Doctor, aiming an enormous bazooka at Sam and the Dalek. "Sam, get out of the way, now!"

"No," said Sam. "Because I won't let you do this!"

"The thing killed hundreds of people," argued the Doctor.

Sam studied him coolly. "It's not the one pointing the gun at me."

The Doctor swallowed. "I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left!"

"But look at it," protested Sam, looking back at the Dalek. He had never seen such an ugly creature, save for the Slitheen, maybe, but there was something sad and delicate about the way it blinked its singular eye in the bright light and gently wagged its little tentacle in the warmth. "The sunlight. That's all it wants. It could have killed me, but it didn't. It could've killed Van Statten, but it didn't. Don't you see, Doctor? It's changed! Isn't…shouldn't everything deserve forgiveness?"

It was at that moment that Sam realized how much that hit home.

The Doctor seemed to think so, too, reflecting on his own crime. "Sam, don't you see? If I destroy it-"

"If you destroy it, than how are you any better?!" demanded Sam. "You've done so much unbelievable good-enough to outweigh the bad ten times over… You're better than this. What the hell are you changing into?"

The Doctor could only stare, shock and shame painted on his face.

* * *

In the end, the Dalek, unable to bare what Sam had turned it into, killed itself.

The Doctor, still tender after the experience, took Sam and the other boy, Adam, in his blue box and flew away.

"Doctor?" said Sam, after Adam had run off to explore the rest of the TARDIS ("It's bigger on the inside!"). "Listen. I'm feeling a bit…tired. Is there a place out there where it's…peaceful?"

The Doctor looked up from his console. He offered a small smile. "I think I know of one, yeah."

The TARDIS landed in a grassy meadow, punctuated with the occasional small tree, and overhead, there was a pale blue sky.

Sam stepped outside and immediately felt a wave of calm wash over him. He inhaled, and the air smelled sweet, faintly floral. He closed his eyes and listened to the almost silence; the only noise about was the slight whisper of the breeze.

He shrugged off his jacket and lay down in the tall soft grass, on his back, letting the warm sunlight caress his face. "What is this place?" he murmured, utterly relaxed.

"It's called The Eye of Orion," said an equally placated voice, and Sam heard the grass rustle beside him as the Doctor lay down as well. "It's the most tranquil place in the universe. It is literally impossible to be unhappy or stressed here, because of the levels of positive ions."

Sam opened his eyes and noted that the Doctor too had shed his leather jacket, and noticed how the dark blue jumper he'd been wearing underneath offset his grey-blue eyes, making them seem lighter, younger, less burdened. Or maybe it was just the atmosphere here.

"So technically," said Sam, rolling over and leaning on his elbow. "We're high right now?"

The Doctor grinned at him. "Yeah," he chuckled, putting his hands behind his head and lacing his fingers together.

Sam closed his eyes and deeply breathed in the sweet air. "Blimey…I definitely could become a junkie to this place." The positive ions were definitely working their magic on him; the aching headache the encounter with the Dalek had given was ebbing away, until the sequence of four knocks was merely a faint tapping in the back of his mind. It was the most peace Sam had felt in a while.

The two remained like that for a while, simply lying there in quiet, absorbing the sunlight and the breeze and the serenity. Sam reckoned he dozed off at some point…

"_Koschei?" Theta came in to find his friend lying in a fetal position on his bed, clutching at his head, eyes clinched shut._

"_So loud," whispered Koschei, tears streaming down his cheeks. "They're so loud."_

"_Here," said Theta, climbing onto Koschei's bed. He took the trembling boy into his arms and held him, stroking his hair, kissing his forehead, telling him telepathically that he was here, that everything would be alright. Koschei sobbed and hiccupped and trembled and finally fell into a peaceful sleep in his arms, snuggled into Theta's chest. Theta held Koschei tightly all night, as to scare away any bad dreams._

I love you, Theta_, Koschei dreamed._

And I love you_, Theta replied, dropping another kiss on the top of Koschei's head._ My Koschei, I love you.

_Theta eventually feel asleep as well, and foreheads pressed together, the two boys shared their dreams…_

Sam was awoken by the Doctor. "Come on," he said, gently shaking Sam by the shoulder. "Your boyfriend says he's bored. He wants to go somewhere exciting."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Okay, look, he's not my _boyfriend_. I don't _have_ a boyfriend, alright? For the last time, I am not interested in men!"

"Whatever," said the Doctor. "Come on then."

Sam stood up, brushed himself off, and followed the Doctor back to the TARDIS.


	12. Con Men And Cavalier

**Hello, sweeties! I've been trying for three freaking days to finish this one up. But it's finally here! :D**

**Okay, first of all, yes, I left out "Father's Day". I hated to do it, because it was one of my favorite episode, but since Sam isn't really a real person, the Tylers never really existed, did they? So this is "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances". (Hello, Jack! :D)**

**Second of all...I loved writing this. You might hate me, but I wrote it. If you think I moved them too fast at the end with the dancing, comment and I'll change it. I just couldn't resist though! :.(**

**This chapter, I decided to change things up. This chapter is from the point of view of the Doctor, rather than Sam.**

**Well, thanks to Mabudachi-trio, keepcalmandfangirlon, and a very special thanks to Alowl for commenting, and to anyone else who read. Enjoy!**

* * *

_Fantastic. As soon as I rid myself of one, he wanders off and picks up another stray!_ The Doctor grumbled inwardly, trying not to watch as Sam and Jack chatted. The captain, the Doctor could see, was shamelessly flirting with Sam, who was quite uncomfortable.

_Funny_, the Doctor couldn't help joke to himself. _For a guy who claims so vehemently to be hetero, he sure does attract a lot of blokes. And I thought I was a…how did Sam put it? A "space pimp"?_

But the Doctor had to back up a bit. He had left Adam back in his own flat back home after his little trick with the cell phone and the white noise on Satellite Five.

"I only take the best," he'd said fiercely. "I've got Sam."

Then he stormed back inside his TARDIS and flew away, only to stumble across a bright mauve capsule. Mauve, he explained to Sam, was the universal color for emergency. So, he locked onto the capsule's flight pattern, and wound up somewhere/when in London.

"What's the plan to locate this thing, then?" asked Sam, as they strolled through a back alley the TARDIS had turned up in. It was nighttime, and the city was unusually serene. "Gonna…scan for alien tech or something?"

"No, I'm gonna ask someone," he said, flashing Sam his psychic paper.

Sam looked at it. "Might want to get that fixed, mate. It's still not working."

The Doctor gaped at him quizzically. "Really? It's blank?" He looked at it himself, but identification papers for a "Dr. John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids" were present. _Curiouser and curiouser_.

In all honesty, matters had grown even stranger than usual (if possible) ever since the Doctor plucked up his latest companion. Not only did Sam seem telepathically endowed, as the encounter with the Nestene had proved, but the fact that the psychic paper didn't work on him showed that Sam might be a genius as well. Not surprising. The Doctor very rarely employed dim individuals. However, Sam, smart as he was, didn't necessarily show that type of prowess up front. It was almost as if Sam's mind was a precious, powerful jewel, concealed under layers of human-y rock and stone.

Sometimes, the Doctor caught Sam nursing his temples, or muttering to himself. The Doctor would inquire if he was alright, to which Sam always replied, "Yeah. Swell." Then the Doctor would just let the matter drop.

Outside of Sam, other things were odd too. For instance, the TARDIS had been acting very temperamental lately, especially when Sam touched the console. He failed to understand why. The old girl had never particularly shown a preference to or bias toward any of his traveling companions before. The Doctor prided himself on possessing a well-behaved, hospitable TARDIS. Perhaps she was still getting use to having others on board again; it had been several centuries, after all.

Not to mention…_Bad Wolf_.

The two, simple, non-threatening words had been stalking the Doctor ever since Platform One. He'd overheard the Moxx of Balhoon utter this simple phrase in passing, but had brushed it off. It simply had been irrelevant prattle at the time. But then in 1869's Cardiff, the Doctor had walked in on Sam and the servant girl, Gwyneth, in the kitchen, and there again were those two words. He didn't know what they'd been discussing beforehand, but the both of them had seemed very frightened.

Returning Sam home to London, he'd discovered several tags in the very alley he'd landed in sporting the phrase. Some little imp had even had the gall to brand, well, spray paint the damn words onto the exterior of his TARDIS. If that wasn't the universe trying to get the Doctor's attention, he didn't know what was.

And there were more. Henry Van Statten's helicopter, christened "Bad Wolf One". And on Satellite 5, the Bad Wolf TV channel featuring some story on the Face of Boe being pregnant (rubbish, most probably). Wherever the Doctor went, two words followed. _Bad Wolf_.

And the Doctor had some sinister feeling that they had to do with Sam.

The Doctor had meant it when he'd said he was glad he'd met the lad; he was. The guilt of the Time War had lay heavily on his mind and hearts before he'd run across this little human. He still felt the ache sometimes, when he was by himself in the console room while Sam was sleeping. But the presence of this brilliant, curious, daring, funny bloke had somehow dulled the pain, the hollow loneliness. He could forget for a while. He could even start to forgive himself, for a moment.

But then he'd remember.

Of course, he'd never say any of this to Sam. The man (not to mention everyone else in the universe) was so convinced that the Doctor was out to shag him. Honestly, it wasn't as if the Doctor had never had platonic friends. Ian and Barbara, Zoe, Liz, little Jo Grant, the Brigadier, Sarah Jane (even though she'd fancied him), Adric and Tegan and Nyssa, Peri (although, she'd seemed sort of interested in his fifth incarnation-who wasn't?-but then he'd changed, and she was immediately turned off for some reason…), Ace…just to name a few.

This Captain Jack Harkness, on the other hand, seemed to be quite the opposite.

Sam had wandered off while the Doctor was inspecting the area (They'd somehow managed to land in 1941, smack dab in the middle of the London Blitz. Good grief!), and then got himself stranded by dangling from the rope of a barrage balloon soaring two hundred feet over London during a bloody German air raid! Good thing Prince Charming had been there to rescue Sam as if he were some princess trapped in a tall tower, all slick haired and coy winks and flashing those pearly whites around like the crown jewels. The Captain was almost too beautiful to be real.

And he was. As it turned out, the swashbuckling Captain Jack was the cause of their advent in this war-torn London, not to mention the reason behind the "plague", the transformation of the humans into these gas mask creatures. And all just to make a quick buck. A lousy con man. That's all he was.

Plus, he had the gall to make fun of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver! The Doctor's pride was still a bit wounded over that one.

And then, just when it seemed that the three men were trapped, stuck inside the Albion Hospital, Jack, with his sneaky little vortex manipulator, teleported out of there when Sam and the Doctor weren't looking.

"Oh great!" said Sam, looking disgusted. The Doctor thanked his lucky stars he hadn't picked up some mushy, doe-eyed bird who would fawn all over the charming rogue like some teenager. "He's gone!" continued Sam, pacing. "Why do all the smart guys do that?!"

The Doctor frowned. "I'm making an effort not to be insulted." Okay. So apparently, Harkness had had _some_ kind of effect on Sam.

"Oi, don't even, you've done it too!"

"Have not!" argued the Doctor childishly.

"Oh yeah?" Sam crossed his arms. "Three words, mate: _Hunt's Department Store_!"

"Oh…well okay, there was that," admitted the Doctor sheepishly.

Sam sighed and turned away. "We need him."

The Doctor let slip a derisive scoff. "Like hell we do. Have you forgotten that he's the one who got us into this mess?"

"Yeah, but _he's_ got a weapon," Sam pointed out.

"I don't need weapons."

"Sometimes weapons are a necessary evil," said Sam. Then his expression turned sour, like he remembering something bad. He clenched his eyes shut and rubbed the sides of his head.

"You alright?" asked the Doctor.

"Yeah," grumbled Sam, slightly shaking his head. "Swell."

There it was again.

Suddenly, an old dusty radio sitting on a bookshelf in the corner crackled to life. For a moment, the Doctor feared it was the boy again. The empty child. But then, an irritatingly smooth voice came on over the speaker. "Sam? Doctor? Can you hear me? I'm back on my ship."

The Doctor jumped up and went over to inspect the radio as Jack continued. "Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you. It's security-keyed to my molecular structure."

_Convenient_, mused the Doctor.

"I'm working on it," said Jack. "Hang in there."

"How are you speaking to us?" asked the Doctor, fiddling with the broken wires, which weren't attached to anything.

"Om-Com," explained Jack simply. "I can call anything with a speaker grill."

"Now there's a coincidence," said the Doctor.

"What is?"

"The child can Om-Com too," replied the Doctor.

"He can?" asked Sam.

"Anything with a speaker grill," said the Doctor, nodding. "Including the TARDIS phone."

"Wait, you mean the child can phone us?"

"_And I can hear you_," called a little voice on the radio that was definitely not Jack's. "_Coming to find you. Coming to find you."_

"Doctor, can you hear that?" crackled Jack's voice.

"Loud and clear," said the Doctor, hiding his nervousness. In all his nine hundred years, he'd never encountered anything likeospHo these zombie things. And usually, he was fascinated by new things. But not in this case.

"I'll try to block out the signal," said Jack, then he added a little sheepishly, "It's the least I could do."

_Damn right_, thought the Doctor.

"_Coming to find you, mummy…_"

"Remember this one, Sam?" A song began to play on the radio from Jack's ship: "Moonlight Serenade", by Glenn Miller. Not exactly the kind of tunes a 51st century kind of guy listened to a regular basis, the Doctor mused. Or was it actually possible that this Captain Jack actually had some culture?

The Doctor looked at Sam questioningly, who was looking down at his feet. "We were…just listening to it on his ship," he muttered. The Doctor heard the Captain chuckle softly over the radio and decided not to ask any further. He really didn't want to know.

The Doctor set himself to scanning the dimensions of the room with his (not stupid) sonic screwdriver, as Sam lounged in a wheelchair, absentmindedly wheeling himself back and forth as the song played on. He'd asked if he could help, to which the Doctor had gruffly replied no. Then he'd suggested, in a slightly less tight voice, that Sam just keep out of the way.

Why did the Captain have this effect on the Doctor? Why did the thought of him and Sam, together on the con man's ship, "listening" to Glenn Miller and doing God knows what else, gnaw at his insides like he'd swallowed a live rat?

_Because he's a piece of scum. He's a piece of scum and Sam's impressed by him. No. Sam has nothing to do with it. You just don't like Jack because he's scum, that's all. You're not…__that__. That would be silly. Because that would imply that you had…__feelings__ for Sam. Which you don't. You most certainly do not have feelings for Sam. He made it clear from day one: platonic. And you firmly agreed. Right? Right._

"What are you doing?" Sam's voice surprised the Doctor.

"Er…trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete, loosen the bars," answered the Doctor, recovering quickly.

"You don't think he's coming back, do you?" asked Sam.

The Doctor held back a snort. "Wouldn't bet my life."

"Look…the guy just…made a mistake. That's all. It's not like you've never made a mistake."

"Why do you trust him?" asked the Doctor suddenly. He hadn't meant to ask the question, but for some reason, he had to know.

"Saved my life," answered Sam. "Isn't that good enough?"

The Doctor let out an indifferent _psh_ of air and continued scanning the window.

Sam sighed heavily and said, "Alright, look…I trust him because…he's like you."

A small, nasty little part of the Doctor's brain said, _And the insults keep rolling in_. But the other 93 percent made the Doctor pause and turn to look at Sam, a bemused expression on his face.

Sam cleared his throat. "Except…you know…with drinking and dancing."

"Oh, so that's what you two were doing?" said the Doctor, raising his fantastic eyebrows that were usually reserved for scowling. An invisible smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Yeah, yeah, it's not like that," grumbled Sam, waving his hand dismissively and trying hard not to blush. "The guy had a couple beers on board, and then he turned on the radio and asked me to dance. I said I didn't know how." Sam gave the wall to his right a put-upon grimace. "So…he was just teaching me! You know I'm-"

"Straight, I've heard," said the Doctor, repressing an eye roll. Honestly, he really didn't care. Nine hundred years of time and space, and you've pretty much seen everything. Done everything, too. He was from a planet where gender was subjective, for Christ's sake. These humans and their labels.

Hm. Maybe he and this Jack Harkness were alike…a little.

"So…what did he teach you?" said the Doctor, turning back to his scanning.

"Waltz, mostly," said Sam. "It was simple enough."

"Yeah, I know the waltz," said the Doctor. He heard a cough that sounded suspiciously like it was covering a laugh. "Something funny?"

"You dance?" asked Sam incredulously. "Lemme guess…the Time Warp, right?"

_I practically invented the Time Warp._ "Yes, I can dance," he said irritably.

"Doesn't the universe implode or something if the Doctor dances?" said Sam, almost genuinely laughing at him now.

_Hmph. Lot you know. I'll have you know, I taught some of my "partners" their best tricks._ "Well, I've got the moves, but I wouldn't want to boast," said the Doctor, biting back a haughty smirk.

The Doctor heard the wheelchair creak as Sam got up from it. He listened to Sam's footsteps as he walked over to the radio and turned up the dial, and the slow music became louder. "Alright," said Sam, and the Doctor was surprised at how close Sam's voice seemed, as if the man was standing right behind him. "Impress me."

"Huh?" The Doctor turned around, slightly taken aback.

Sam shrugged, trying to look impassive. He casually held out a hand. "You said you got the moves. So show me your moves." He grinned a little, raising an eyebrow playfully.

"Sam, I'm…I'm trying to resonate concrete," said the Doctor, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Jack'll get us, come on," prodded Sam. "The world doesn't end 'cause the Doctor dances.

Okay. Definitely uncomfortable now. The Doctor, after putting his sonic screwdriver back inside his jacket, covertly wiped his slightly sweaty palms on his jeans and swallowed. Were his heart rates accelerated?

_Calm down. It's nothing. Just a lark. Nothing to sweat._

He put on a fake sense of bravado as he swaggered down off the ledge. He took Sam's outstretched hand, then, surprising the both of them, pulled Sam in close. He heard Sam gulp slightly.

The Doctor smiled one of those cheekily, sarcastic smiles that had so become a part of this incarnation's persona, and they started to sway to the music.

"Hm," said Sam, slightly bobbing his head side to side bemusedly. "Not bad…though I will admit, Captain Jack could probably teach you a thing or two."

"What, like this?" On an impulse, the Doctor suddenly dipped the man, tango style, and held him there. "And he's 'Captain Jack' now, is he?"

"Well…" Sam's breath was slightly hitched as the Doctor hung over him, still clutching him firmly. "His name's Jack. He's a captain. It's very…_Pirates Of The Caribbean_, isn't it?"

"Yes, but he's not really a captain, is he, Sam?" said the Doctor, pulling Sam upright again and heard him give a faint sigh of relief.

"Maybe you're just jealous," muttered Sam.

"Of what? His 'captaincy'? I don't mean to sound arrogant-"

"You never do."

"-but I personally think 'Doctor' sounds more impressive than 'Captain'. More original. More mysterious."

"It's definitely unusual, I'll give you that," smirked Sam. That earned him an impromptu spin around. Sam, unprepared for it, stumbled into the Doctor, hands splayed on the man's chest.

Sam slowly looked up at the Doctor, cheeks red as roses. Their faces were extremely close.

"Er…sorry," breathed Sam, pulling back quickly.

"Quite alright," said the Doctor, releasing Sam's hands completely. This dance was over.

"You know," said a voice that made them both jump. The Doctor looked up to realize that they were no longer standing in the hospital. "Most people notice when they've been teleported," commented Jack, sticking his handsome head out from behind the pilot's chair in the front of the ship. He smirked at them. "You guys are so sweet."

"It's…totally not like that," Sam automatically began to sputter, but Jack disinterestedly cut him off. "Sorry about the delay. I had to take the Nav-Com offline to override the teleport security."

"You spent ten minutes overriding your own protocols?" asked the Doctor. "Maybe you should remember whose ship it is."

"Oh, I do," chuckled the Captain. "She was gorgeous. Like I told her, be back in five minutes." He ducked down to inspect some wiring in the console.

The Doctor took that moment to look around the craft. The structure, the lights, the wiring… "This is a Chula ship," he said.

"Yeah, just like that medical transporter," said Jack. He looked up at them. "Only this one _is_ dangerous."

The Doctor snapped his fingers suddenly. A golden swarm of tiny light particles gathered around his hand. "Oh yeah," said Sam. "I'd gotten rope burn from the barrage, and Jack used those things to fix me up."

"Nanogenes," said the Doctor, watching as the light specks danced around his hand. "Sub-atomic robots. There's millions of them in here, see? Burned my hand on the console when we landed. All better now. They activate when the bulk head's sealed. Check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws." The nanogenes disappeared as quickly as they'd come, and the Doctor, hand newly healed, looked at Jack. "Take us to the crash site. I need to see your space junk."

* * *

They found the ambulance…and Nancy. Jack got the capsule open. "It's empty. Look at it."

"Chula ambulance? What did you expect to find? Bandages, cough drops?"

"Nanogenes!" exclaimed Sam.

"It wasn't empty, Captain," said the Doctor, spitting the name. "There were enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species."

Horror bloomed on the Captain's handsome face as realization dawned on him.

"Getting it now, are we?" said the Doctor coldly. "When the ship crashes, the nanogenes escape. Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world. But what they find first is a dead child, probably killed earlier that night, and wearing a gasmask. So they bring him back to life. Because what's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene. One problem though. These nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. Don't know what a human being's supposed to look like. All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do. They patch it up. Can't tell what's gasmask and what's skull, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. Because, you see, now they think they know what people should look like, and it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. _They won't ever, ever stop_. The entire human race is going to be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother, and _nothing in the world can stop it_!"

"_I didn't know_!" exclaimed the Captain helplessly.

_Mummy…mummy…mummy…_

They looked out into the dark courtyard to find that the empty people had found them. A whole legion of them, emerging from the shadows, all moaning the same innocent plea: _Mummy._

* * *

The girl saved them.

"Yes," she whispered to the little boy. "I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy." She took the boy in her arms and hugged him tightly.

Suddenly, a swirling of golden light surrounded mother and child. "Doctor, what's going on?" said Sam.

"Life," said the Doctor, feeling like he could cry. "Everybody lives, Sam. Just this once…_everybody lives!_"

* * *

The Doctor was happy. No, ecstatic. No, _fantastic!_ "I need more days like this," said the Doctor, merrily dancing around the console of the TARDIS. "Go ahead, Sam. Ask me anything. I'm on fire!"

"Doctor…what about Jack?"

So, the Doctor saved the Captain. And now, here they were. Three men and a TARDIS.

"Much bigger on the inside," commented Jack.

"You'd better be," said the Doctor.

Jack smirked. "So Doctor…Sam tells me you're quite the dancer."

The Doctor grinned mischievously and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, some lively jazz music came on. "Care to give it a go?" asked the Doctor, offering his hand.

"Well-" But Jack was suddenly cut off as Sam took the Doctor's hand instead. "Actually, I think I'll be cutting in, if you don't mind."

"Jack," said the Doctor, as he and Sam began swaying to the music. "What did you do to my companion?"

Jack chuckled to himself as he watched the two men dance. _That's the thing, Doctor. I don't think I had to do anything at all._


	13. Boyfriends And Girlfriends

**Hello, darlings. Just another short chapter. I know you were all clambering for a Jack-Sam sexuality talk scene. So, here it is.**

**I can't _believe_ we're this close to "Bad Wolf"/"Parting Of The Ways"! Aw, I'm going to miss Nine. :'( Well, that's one season down and two to go! And believe me, season two is definitely going to heat things up between our two favorite Time Lords. ;)**

**Thanks to Alowl, Mabudachi-trio, keepcalmandfangirlon, and meetmeyesterday for commenting, and to anyone lese who read. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

"And this is your room," said Sam, leading the taller man down the corridor. He pointed to the door opposite Jack's quarters. "This one's mine. Just holler if you need anything, alright?"

Jack put on one of his megawatt smiles and leaned on his elbow against the wall. "You mean you're not going to invite me in?"

Sam blanched. "Oh, er…"

Jack laughed. "Down, boy. I'm messing with you. Besides, I'd never steal another man's boy toy."

Sam gave a disgusted sigh. "Look, I'm telling you like I've told what seems like everyone in the universe and their mother-the Doctor and I are _not_ like that!"

"Really?" said Jack, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't look like that from where I was standing."

"Try standing somewhere else next time," grouched Sam.

"You're the one that danced with him," Jack pointed out slyly.

"Yeah, well, I danced with you too. And then you and the Doctor danced. It was nothing…and by the way, if word ever gets out that I danced with two blokes, I swear to God-"

"Alright, alright," laughed Jack and put his hands up in defense. "Your secret's safe with me, Mister Straight Arrow."

"That's my name. Don't wear it out."

"Look, there's no shame in admitting that you're attracted to another man. As you can see, I have no qualms about it."

"Yeah, I noticed," said Sam. "Except that's the difference between you and me: I'm not into other men."

"No, just whatever the Doctor is. He _is_ an alien, after all," said Jack, waggling his eyebrows. "Who knows what he's hiding in his trousers?"

"That's disgusting. And I am not _interested_ in the Doctor!" Sam protested.

Jack shrugged. "I just call it like I see it."

"Well, I'd get myself to an eye doctor if I were you," Sam retorted.

"Man, you should have seen your face when I teleported you two onto my ship," cackled Jack. "Your face. It was beet red."

"Of course it was! I had tripped. That's embarrassing."

"Hmm, you tripped alright. Right into the Doctor's arms. He has nice arms, doesn't he? Big, strong, sturdy arms. Very manly. 'Oh, hold me, Doctor!'" Jack mocked him, clutching his hands to his heart dramatically.

"You're full of it," sputtered Sam.

"And the way he was looking at you," said Jack, grinning evilly at him. He was really on a roll now.

"He wasn't looking at me in anyway, except that he was as embarrassed as I was!" said Sam, his cheeks burning.

"Oh, you call that 'embarrassed? Funny. I would've called it _lusty_." Jack laughed shamelessly at the way Sam was squirming. "He wanted you, right then and there. I swear, if I hadn't spoken up when I had, you two would've thrown down. Which would have been very hot, I might add."

"Look, mate," said Sam, fuming. "Just because you two seem to think that sexual preference is subjective, I don't. I'm not from your time, and even if I was, well…I just don't see it that way! I'm not homophobic or anything, but that doesn't I mean fancy guys either. Understand?"

"Okay," said Jack, smirk well wiped from his attractive face. "I get it."

"Good. Now, good night," said Sam, turning sharply on his heel and walking into his bedroom, resisting the urge to slam the door behind him.

But even as Sam was pulling on his pajama bottoms, turning out the light, and climbing into bed, a thought was gnawing at the back of his mind: something was definitely changing.

_Blimey. I've been running around with gay guys, or omnisexuals, or whatever they consider themselves, for too long. Tomorrow, the first thing I'm gonna do is ask the Doctor if we can go see Annie. I really, really need to be with a girl right now._

* * *

"Sure, no problem," said the Doctor promptly, setting the controls for England, 2006.

"Hopefully, we'll get it right this time," laughed Sam.

"Who's Annie?" asked Jack.

"My_ girlfriend_," said Sam, giving Jack a pointed look.

Jack raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

Annie met them in Cardiff. "Sam!" she said, grinning as she raced into his hug.

"Hello, love," he said, kissing her on the lips, making sure that Jack could see.

"Hello, Doctor," she said as she shook his hand, keeping her voice politely distant.

"DI Cartwright. Good to see you again," he replied, nodding his head respectfully.

"A policewoman, huh?" said Jack, grinning suggestively as he approached the girl. "Good to have one on hand. Never know who's going to act naughty." He winked and kissed her hand. "Hi. I'm Captain Jack Harkness."

"Alright, alright, that's enough," said Sam as Jack went to kiss her hand again. "How long's it been this time?"

"Six months," she said. "Not nearly as off track as before, timewise. Although, you could've parked a little closer than Cardiff," she said, smiling.

"You look great," said Sam. "Mind you, it's only been a few weeks for me."

"Still getting used to that," said Annie, shaking her head. "The whole…time travel thing. It's just so-"

"Fantastic?" said the Doctor pluckily.

"Strange," replied Annie. "I miss you a lot when you're gone, Sammy."

Sam grinned and kissed her again.

"Aw, so sweet, these two," said Jack mockingly. He looked over at the Doctor. "How come I never get any of that?"

"Buy me a drink first."

"You're such hard work," whined Jack.

"But worth it." The Doctor smiled sweetly at him, then turned to Annie. "We've just stopped off here to refuel the TARDIS."

"See, Cardiff's got this rift in time and space running through it, and-"

"Okay, too much tech talk for me," said Annie, raising her hands to stop Sam. "Just…tell me you're staying for awhile."

Sam looked at the Doctor. "Well…," said the Doctor, rubbing the back of his neck. "It'll take about twenty four hours for the TARDIS to fill up, so…I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

Annie smiled at Sam, linking her arm with his. "Lovely! Let's do lunch then. All four of us."

The group clambered out of the TARDIS. "That lady's staring," said Annie.

"Probably wondering what four people could be doing inside a small wooden box," said Jack, smirking.

"What are you Captain of, anyway? The Innuendo Squad?" asked Annie.

Jack winked at her.

"Ah, Cardiff," said the Doctor, as the gang headed off. "21st century, and the wind's blowing in from the east. Safest place in the universe."


	14. Wolves And Women

**Hello, mates! Happy spring break! :D**

**Oh. My. God. We are so freaking close to Bad Wolf/Parting Of The Ways! I can't even! Alright, more angsty Annie and confused Sam. And of course, Bad Wolf.**

**Thanks to m, Mabudachi-trio, keepcalmandfangirlon, Twazzi, Em J Loves You, and meetmeyesterday for commenting, and to anyone else who read. Enjoy!**

* * *

Open mouth, insert foot. The Doctor had been wrong.

They had had to deal with Margaret Blaine, or rather, Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer Day-Slitheen, who had somehow survived the blast at 10 Downing Street and was now posing as Lord Mayor of Cardiff. They had captured her and shut down her nuclear power plant that was meant to meltdown and aided by the Cardiff rift, cause the entire Earth to implode. The "Blaidd Drwg" project, she called it.

The Doctor had seemed very surprised at this. "How did you think of the name?"

"What, 'Blaidd Drwg'? It's Welsh," she'd answered.

"I know, but how did you think of it?"

"I chose it at random, that's all. I don't know. It just sounded good," she shrugged. Then, noticing his pensive state, she added, "Does it matter?"

He turned around and looked at Sam. "Blaidd Drwg."

"What's it mean?" asked Sam, feeling his stomach squirm.

The Doctor swallowed. And he said it. The two words that had been stalking them to every corner of the universe.

"_Bad Wolf_."

"But I've heard that before," said Sam. At the mere mention of the two words, images and memories sprang into his mind from the past few months. His conversation to Gwyneth, the "BadWolfTV" channel on Satellite Five, even the graffiti tags in his own alley. "_Bad Wolf_. I'd heard that lots of times."

Sam stared as the Doctor continued, a cold clammy feeling crawling around in his insides. "Everywhere we go. Two words, following us…_Bad Wolf_."

"But…it's impossible. How can a couple of words be following us?"

The Doctor stared him down, a haunted look in his eyes. Then, his face suddenly morphed into that of a cheeky grin that so commonly crossed the Time Lord's face. "Nah. Just a coincidence."

* * *

"I've been thinking, you know," said Annie later. It was nighttime. The Doctor and Jack were holding Blon inside the TARDIS, and they were standing outside in the cool night air. Annie had come wearing Sam's favorite sweater. It was form fitting and a shade of teal that perfectly complemented her eyes. Normally, that sweater would have Sam staring shamelessly. But tonight, for some reason…

Sam shook his head. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Well, we could…go have a drink, maybe," said Annie, taking his hand. "Have dinner somewhere, just you and me."

"Yeah…yeah, that'd be nice," said Sam, nodding, as he stared at the TARDIS.

Annie followed his gaze. "And if the TARDIS can't leave till morning, we could…go to a hotel. I mean, if you want to."

"Er…what?" said Sam.

Annie sighed exasperatedly. "Nothing. Just nothing."

"No, really, Annie, I'm listening honestly-"

"No, you're not. You're too busy staring at that ship. You're thinking about the Doctor, aren't you?" she accused, crossly folding her arms over her chest.

"What, no! Why would I be thinking about the Doctor, when you're right here?" exclaimed Sam.

Annie rolled her eyes. "Oh, I don't know," she said sarcastically.

"Look, love, let's just forget about the Doctor and the TARDIS and Jack and the Slitheen and just go to a bar or something. Come on." He took her hand and gave her a coaxing smile, complete with puppy-dog eyes. "Please?"

Annie slowly smiled. "Oh, alright," she said, and the two of them headed off.

* * *

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor was watching them walk away together on the monitor. "What's on?" said Jack suddenly, sneaking up behind him.

The Doctor quickly changed the monitor to a display of the TARDIS diagnostics. "Nothing," he lied.

* * *

"..and something had happened, something to do with the sun, I don't know, but the sea had just frozen." Sam hadn't been able to able to resist talking about his travels with the Doctor again. Annie walked along beside him, glaring at her shoes. But Sam didn't notice. "In a split second, in the middle of a storm, right, waves and foam, just frozen, all the way out to the horizon. Midnight, right? We walked underneath these waves a hundred feet tall, made of ice-"

"I'm going out with Jimmy Stone," she interrupted.

Sam stopped short. They were standing on a dock looking out over the bay. Annie, arms crossed to shut out the cool wind, stood at the banister facing the water, not looking Sam in the eye.

"Er…Jimmy Stone? You mean, my mate from school. Jimmy Stone? Jimmy Stone, who played lead guitar in our band? Jimmy Stone, the_ heroin junkie_?"

"Yes, Jimmy Stone, the _ex_-heroin junkie," she snapped.

"Oh…" Sam rubbed the back of his neck. "So he's clean then?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Well…good. Great. Brilliant…well…"

Annie swallowed and turned around to face him. "So, tell me more about this ice planet, then."

"Oh…er…that was it, really."

* * *

"So," said Blon, sipping her wine. "Who is that handsome man you have on your ship now? He wasn't with you before."

"Captain Jack Harkness," answered the Doctor. He had agreed to give the Slitheen a final meal before he returned to her home planet, Raxacoricofallapatorius, to be executed. She had made several clever attempts to assassinate him over the evening, but he, being cleverer, had thwarted them easily.

"Ah. Well, he is rather pretty," said Blon, pointedly raising her eyebrows.

The Doctor shrugged indifferently. "Yeah. Pretty bothersome."

"Oh, yes, of course. Your attentions are already preoccupied, aren't they?" She smirked.

"If you're referring to Sam, he's got a girlfriend. Or were you too busy trying to escape to notice?"

"The DI is a sweet young thing, isn't she? Yes, I noticed. But Sam didn't really seem to, did he?"

"Let's keep my private life out of this, shall we?"

"She reminds me of this girl, just today. A young thing, something of a danger. She was getting too close. I felt the blood lust rising, just as the family taught me; I was going to kill her without a thought. And then...I stopped. She's alive somewhere, right now. She's walking around this city because I can change. I did change. I know I can't prove it-"

"No, you can't," agreed the Doctor.

"Give me a chance, Doctor. That's all I'm asking. I can change."

The Doctor looked off into the distance. "I'd like to think so. But you see, I've heard that line too many times to count. People like you…you don't change. If you do, it's only for the worst. I don't believe you, Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer Day-Slitheen. I don't believe in much anymore."

* * *

"He was puking on your shoes when you met him!"

"That was a long time ago! He's changed! And so have you, Sammy!"

"Why do you keep saying that?!"

"You used to be different. You were quiet, predictable. I liked that! I could always depend on you! But then that Doctor came along-"

"Oh, leave him out of this! This has nothing to do with him!"

"Of course! Go ahead, defend him! I'll bet you don't even think about me when you're with him, do you. In fact, if we went to a hotel right now, you'd be thinking about him the whole time, wouldn't you?"

"That's disgusting! I'm telling you, it's not like that! Besides, you know you could've come with us!"

"Well, what was the point? I could see from the way you looked at him that I was losing you!"

"_The Doctor is not my boyfriend_!"

"I can't even go out with a stupid ex-junkie because you pick up the phone and I make a mad dash for the next train to bloody Cardiff! I mean, is that what I am, Sam, standby?" She looked glared him, blinking back tears. "Am I just supposed to stay here for the rest of my life, waiting for you?" She sniffled. "Because…I will."

Sam stood there, mouth agape.

"You can't even say anything?" she squeaked incredulously.

Sam swallowed and looked down at his shoes. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you sure are," she muttered, stomped back the way they had come.

"Annie!" Sam chased after her and hugged her sobbing form tightly. "Look, love, I'm sorry, truly I am. But this, this life…it's all I've ever dreamed of."

"I'm sure."

"No, Annie, I mean I've _literally_ dreamt of this. Look, I'm not with the Doctor because we're shagging or anything. I'm with him because there are questions in my life that I can't answer and I feel like the Doctor could give me the answers."

"But what we had," she said, sniffling. "It was nice. We were happy. At least I thought we were."

"We are. I am," he said. "I just…I…"

"Look," she said, wiping her eyes. "I'm not asking you to leave him, because I know that's not fair. But I just need something. Some sort of promise that when you do come back, you're coming back for me."

Suddenly Sam heard a deep rumble. "Is that thunder?"

"I dunno," said Annie, miserably shrugging. "Does it matter?"

There it went again, louder and stronger. "That's not thunder," said Sam, taking off for the TARDIS.

"Oh, go on then, run!" she cried after him. "It's him again, isn't it?! It's the Doctor! It's always the Doctor! It's always going to be the Doctor. _It's never me_!"

* * *

The Slitheen stood there, Sam's neck grasped in her strong alien arm, captivated by the golden glow seeping out from the TARDIS's console. "What's that light?" Sam managed to choke.

"The heart of the TARDIS," said the Doctor proudly. "This ship's alive. And you've opened its soul," he added, looking at Blon, who continued to stare into the light.

"It's so…bright," she whispered in wonder.

"Look at it, Margaret," coaxed the Doctor.

"Beautiful…"

"Look inside, Blon Fel-Fotch," he said kindly. "Look at the light."

The Slitheen gazed into the heart of the TARDIS, enraptured. Her arm relaxed and dropped Sam. Her skin shone like white diamonds. She smiled heartbreakingly at the Doctor. "Thank you," she choked.

* * *

The TARDIS converted the Slitheen to an egg.

"She can start again," explained the Doctor. "Live her life from scratch. If we take her home, give her to a different family, tell them to bring her up properly, she might be all right."

"Or she might be worse," said Jack pessimistically.

"That's her choice," said the Doctor, smiling down at the little life in his hands.

"She's an egg," said Sam, shaking his head at the brilliance of it all.

"She's an egg," agreed the Doctor.

Then Sam remembered. "Annie."

He got up and ran out of the TARDIS, back to the place where he'd left her.

But she was nowhere to be found.

* * *

"We're all powered up. We can leave. Opening the rift filled us up with energy. We can go, if that's all right," said the Doctor as Sam stepped back inside the TARDIS.

"Er, yeah," he said distractedly. "Fine."

So, three men and a baby took off for Raxacoricofallapatorius, leaving Annie and Cardiff behind.


	15. Games And Gore

**Alright, guys, we're here. Part One of "Bad Wolf". Enjoy, readers.**

* * *

Sam awoke with his head pounding. He was lying on the floor of a dimly lit room, and looked up to find a black man in an all black suit kneeling over him. "What happened?" he mumbled.

"It's all right," said the man, smiling, but the warmth did not meet his eyes. "It's the transmat. Does your head in. Get a bit of amnesia."

Sam managed to sit up a bit, and rubbed the back of his head confusedly.

"What's your name?" asked the man.

"Er…Sam. But…where's the Doctor?" Sam looked around, as if expecting to see him standing somewhere nearby. "We were…I was just with him…"

_They had just left Raxacoricofallapatorius. The Doctor had delivered Blon the egg off at an orphanage (or whatever they had on that planet), and now they were back in the Time Vortex, where the TARDIS preferred to stay in between excursions._

_Sam was sitting on his bed, reading a book, but not really. He was just staring at the pages dully, occasionally turning one. If you had asked him what he was reading, he wouldn't have been able to tell you._

_Sam heard a hesitant knock on his bedroom door, and it creaked open as the Doctor curiously poked his head inside. "Er…Jack fancied a trip to ancient Kyoto," he said. "Do you want to come along?"_

_Sam shrugged. "To be honest, Doctor, I'm just…I'm feeling a bit drained."_

_The Doctor stepped inside his room, and partially shut the door behind him. "Listen, Sam. That girl cares a great deal about you. She'll forgive you eventually."_

"_I dunno, will she?" said Sam, shutting the book. "Cause I really think this is it for us. The things she said…it's funny. But before I met you, before I hitched a ride on your crazy ship-"_

_The TARDIS let out a reproachful groan._

"_Sorry," said Sam to her. "Before I met you, she was all I had. I mean, I had a couple of mates, sure, but no one really close. No real family either. Just that apartment, the shop, and her. My life was…small. Uncomplicated. And now…I don't know why I'm telling you all this," he sighed._

"_I don't mind," said the Doctor._

"_Yeah, I know," said Sam. "Thank you. You're…fantastic." He offered a small smile. "But the thing is-"_

_The room began to glow. "Er…what is that?" said Sam, looking around wildly._

"_Doctor!" they heard Jack calling from downstairs in the console room. "What's going on?"_

"_I don't know!" cried the Doctor, looking panicked._

"_Doctor!" cried Sam, jumping up._

And that was the last memory Sam had before waking up here.

"Just remember," said the man. "Do what the android says. Don't provoke it. The android's word is law."

"Wha-what do you mean 'android'?" stammered Sam. "Like a robot?"

"Positions, everyone, thank you!" a voice suddenly rang out, accompanied by impatient clapping.

The man offered a hand. "Come on. Hurry up."

Sam, head buzzing with questions, took the man's hand, and struggled to get to his feet. "I…I was traveling," Sam babbled. "With the Doctor. And a man called Captain Jack. Have you seen them?"

"That's enough chat!" snapped the sharp female voice. "Positions! Final call! Good luck."

Sam looked up to see a panel of game show podiums, about seven or eight of them, all lined up in a semicircle, arching around a dark figure in the middle of the black room, which Sam now realized, observing the cameras and strobe lights, was a studio of sorts.

"But I'm not supposed to be here!" sputtered Sam.

"Well it says 'Sam' on the podium," said the black man, nodding to a stand in the center.

Sam, green eyes wide with bewilderment, looked where the man's eyes were directed, and sure enough, among the ranks, there was a podium marked 'Sam'.

Sam was perplexed. "Come on!" whispered the man, rushing off to take his own place, behind a podium next to Sam's that was nameplated 'Rodrick'. Sam, through his stupor, followed suit.

_Why does this place look so familiar?_ He said, looking around the studio. _I swear to God, this place looks exactly like…_

Suddenly, spot lights lit up the mysterious figure in the center. "Welcome…to _The Weakest Link_!" said a tinny voice coming from the large robotic woman.

Oh. The _Anne Droid._

* * *

"Transmitting in 12, 11, 10-" the stage manager was counting down.

"But I've got to find the Doctor!" Sam hissed to Rodrick.

"Just shut up and play the game!" said Rodrick, looking disgusted.

Sam swallowed and said, "All right then. Fine. What the hell? I'm gonna play to win!"

"Three…two…"

"Let's play…" said the Anne Droid. "_The Weakest Link!_"

The familiar theme music played over the loudspeaker, and the Anne Droid continued. "Agorax," she said to the first man in line. "What basic food stuff is an anagram for 'beard'?"

After an instant's hesitation, the man answered, "Bread!"

"Correct. Fitch, in the pan traffic calendar, which month comes after Hoop?"

"Is it…Clavadoe?" said the woman, unsure.

"No, Pandov. Sam, in maths, what is 258 minus 158?"

"Er…one hundred," answered Sam. That had been easy enough…thank God.

"Correct. Rodrick-"

"Bank," he said, looking smarmy.

"Which letter of the alphabet appears in the word 'dangle', but _not_ in the word 'gland'?"

"…E," Rodrick replied.

"Correct. Colleen, in social security…"

And so the game dragged on.

* * *

"Fitch, you are the weakest link. Goodbye." A panel where the Anne Droid's mouth and chin would be slid open, and a tube came out, like a lens on a digital camera, and for a moment, Sam thought the Anne Droid was going to take her picture.

Fitch, tearing streaking down her cheeks, turned to her left and looked at Sam. "Help me!" she whimpered.

Sam was confused. She'd just be asked to leave. That was all-

Then a yellow beam shoot of the Anne Droid's mouth and struck the hysterical woman. Before Sam's very eyes, Fitch disappeared.

There was a horrified silence as Sam stared the space where Fitch had been standing two seconds ago.

"And…we've gone to the adverts!" called the manager. "Back in three minutes!"

"What's that?" gasped Sam to Rodrick. "What's happened to her?"

"She was the weakest link, she gets disintegrated," he said coldly, rubbing her name off of his wipeboard.

Sam stood there, mouth agape. "But I…I _voted for her_," he whispered, sickened with himself.

Rodrick shrugged.

"Oh my God…this is _sick!_" Sam looked around. "She's _dead_, and it's because of us, we sent a person _to their death!_ Don't any of you care?! I'm not-"

Sam was about to declare himself out of the game, but Broff beat him to it. "I can't do this!" he exclaimed tearfully, breaking for the door.

The Anne Droid's cool metal gaze followed him. "You are the weakest link." She finished him off another laser. "Goodbye."

Sam stared in horror.

The Anne Droid turned back to face him, her cold emotionless robotic expression daring him to make a run for it.

"Don't try to escape," whispered Rodrick.

Sam shuddered. He now knew what this was. It was play…or die.


End file.
